Report on the stagnation in the transfer of adoption files from the Child Protection Board to the National Archives
A large number of adoption files that are still managed by the Child Protection Board (RvdK) should have been transferred to the National Archives (NA) years ago. In accordance with the Archives Act 1995, these files have been designated as permanent storage.
The Government Information and Heritage Inspectorate investigated this and published a report .
The files generally contain the documents that show the process of a mother giving up her child. They are formed as family files, so that the file always contains personal – and sometimes very sensitive – information from and about several people. In any case, information about the child, the biological mother and the adoptive parents and possibly also about other family members such as brothers and sisters.
Partial inspection
The Child Protection Board itself now grants partial inspection of these adoption files on the basis of permission, in particular from the biological mother. In order to prevent an invasion of privacy, the National Archives carefully implements the provision in the Archives Act regarding 'respect for privacy', but does not make parts of the file available for inspection to those involved, but always the entire file. . This working method prevented the RvdK from complying with the transfer obligation.
Taking personal privacy into account
According to the applicable selection policy, the adoption files have historical and social value. They are, as it were, a supplement to the archives of the registry office. The Inspectorate therefore concludes that the files must be kept permanently and must be transferred to the National Archives. The Inspectorate does, however, consider it important that the character of these files is taken into account when the National Archives allow inspection. The Archives Act provides scope for this. It is not only about respecting privacy in a situation where one file relates to several persons, but also about the implementation of the right to parentage information. Case law shows that a child has no absolute right to inspect his complete adoption file.
Recommendations
Based on the investigation, the Inspectorate makes the recommendation to the Child Protection Board to transfer the adoption files to the National Archives. The Inspectorate advises the National Archives to bring the inspection policy for this specific case, the adoption files, into line with the applicable case law on the right to parentage information and the right to privacy.
Ministers' response
The Ministry of Justice and Security, which is responsible for government information from the Child Protection Board, has set up an independent advisory committee with regard to information management. The ministry has asked the committee to investigate the adoption files. The advisory committee's advice to the Ministry is in line with the report of the Government Information and Heritage Inspectorate.
In May 2020, the Inspectorate presented its report to the Ministers of Justice and Security (JenV) and Primary and Secondary Education and Media (OCW). In consultation with the Inspectorate, the Ministers of Education, Culture and Science and JenV postponed their response until they had received the Committee's advice. In their response, they say that agreements have been made between the National Archives, the Council and the Ministry of Justice and Security as a result of both investigations. These agreements must lead to the transfer of the archives to the National Archives and agreement on the inspection process. A project group will develop the inspection process of the files on the basis of the recommendations from the report.
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