ANNEX “SEARCH FOR ORIGINS” COLOMBIA

ANNEX “SEARCH FOR ORIGINS” COLOMBIA ACCESS TO ORIGINS IN COLOMBIA Historical context of adoption in the country Adoption was initially defined in the Civil Code Arts. 269 to 287, and the grounds for withdrawing the adoption were the same as those that served as grounds to disinherit a legitimate beneficiary. With the entry into force of Law 140 of 1960, the notion of adoption changed into a protection measure for children, acceding to the fact that, those who had no offspring could have it with the purpose of making the child a beneficiary of the adopter’s parental care and affection, but it denied the possibility of extramarital children being adopted by their father. This changed with Law 75 of 1968. Law 5 of 1975 proposed the irrevocability of adoption in two ways: full and simple. In addition, it provided that only the ICBF and institutions duly authorised by the ICBF may carry out the Adoption Programme. Decree 2737 of 1989 (Juvenile Code) eliminated simple adoption, focusing on the express concept of a protection measure. It also established that all documents and proceedings relating to the adoption process would be kept for a term of 30 years. From this moment on, adoption records began to be preserved and kept in the different archives of the ICBF and IAPAS. Subsequently, Law 1098 of 2006 aligned adoption with the requirements of the CRC and the 1993 Hague Convention on Adoption, structuring the entire rights reinstatement protocol, leaving adoption as the last resort to provide a protection measure for a child. In addition, the legal reserve was reduced to 20 years. The only people who would have access to them are those established by law. For the purpose of a more careful and rigorous approach regarding confidentiality and safekeeping of documents, some years later, all documents pertaining to adoption processes are centralised, either in the Central Archives of the Regional Offices or in the Central Archive at the Headquarters of the Directorate General of the ICBF, where they remain to this day. Source: Miryam Alejandra Toro Mesa. Adopción en Colombia: concepto, evolución legislativa frente al consentimiento y trámite como medida de protección dentro del proceso de restablecimiento de derechos, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2019; Questionnaire on the practical operation of the 1993 Adoption Convention Prel. Doc. No. 3 of February 2020 for the Special Commission meeting for 2021, Question 1.