BILATERAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN AND THE REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA IN THE FIELD OF ADOPTIONS
Volume 2195, I-38852
[T
RANSLATION — TRADUCTION]BILATERAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN AND
THE REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA IN THE FIELD OF ADOPTIONS
The States of the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of Bolivia,
Recognizing the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by
the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989, which states that intercountry
adoption may be considered as an alternative means of a child's care, if the child cannot be
placed in an adoptive family or cannot be cared for effectively in the child's country of origin,
Recognizing that the principle of the best interests of the child is the reason for and the
interpretative basis of this Agreement,
That it is important to preserve and respect the right to cultural identity of the child or
adolescent,
That the child or adolescent who is the subject of intercountry adoption should, upon
being declared adoptable, enjoy safeguards equivalent to those existing in the case of national
adoption,
That the placement of a child or adolescent should be carried out by competent authorities
and should not result in any improper financial gain for the persons involved in the process,
That the signatories seek to provide the strongest safeguards for the adoption of children
or adolescents in each other's country,
That this Agreement seeks to establish a system of cooperation between the signatories
that shall, in the adoption process, ensure the prevention or, where applicable, the total
elimination of the abduction of, traffic in or sale of children and adolescents,
Have agreed to sign this bilateral Agreement on international adoption in accordance
with the following provisions:
Article 1
Scope of application
This bilateral Agreement constitutes the framework for the processing of requests under
Bolivian and Spanish law and the conceptualization of the doctrine of the legal institution
of adoption as recognized by law in both countries.
This Agreement shall apply in cases in which a child or adolescent having a habitual
residence in the territory of the Republic of Bolivia or in Spain may be fully adopted by
nationals of either State, in accordance with the constitutional and legal provisions in force
in either country.
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Article 2
Central authorities
Volume 2195, I-388521. The competent central authorities responsible for the procedures provided for in this
Agreement shall be:
In Bolivia: The Deputy Minister for Gender, Generational and Family Affairs, or such
institution as shall in the future, in accordance with the law, assume the functions and responsibilities
thereof.
In Spain: Spain being a State containing various central authorities, the Ministry of Labour
and Social Affairs shall, through its Directorate General for Social Action, Minors and
the Family, constitute the central authority to which any communication may be addressed
for transmission to the competent central authority within the State.
2. The central authorities of both States being legally entitled to delegate some of their
functions to accredited bodies duly authorized and registered in both States, such authorities
shall exercise oversight over the accredited bodies referred to in the following article
and shall impose on them, or shall request to have imposed on them by the competent authorities,
penalties for any omission from or violation of the procedures contained in this
Agreement, in the laws for the protection of children or in international conventions.
3. The central authorities and the accredited bodies shall assist and promote cooperation
between the competent authorities of both States in ensuring the protection of adopted
children and adolescents and in attaining the other objectives of the Agreement, particularly
during the period prior to adoption, in accordance with their internal jurisdiction and procedures,
and when monitoring the stage following the order of the court.
They shall inform each other concerning national laws and internal procedures in the
field of adoption and concerning any other issue of a general nature relating to adoption.
They shall maintain constant contact with regard to the operation of the Agreement and
shall take steps to eliminate obstacles that may prevent its implementation.
4. The central authorities shall, directly or through the accredited bodies, take appropriate
measures to:
(a) Retain and exchange information concerning the situation of the child or adolescent
and concerning future adoptive parents only during and after the adoption process, and also
concerning the success of the child's or adolescent's adjustment to the adoptive parents;
(b) Facilitate, monitor and expedite the adoption process;
(c) Prevent any improper gain arising out of the adoption or any practice contrary to
the objectives of the Agreement;
(d) Implement and promote measures to monitor adoptions in their respective States;
(e) Provide each other with assessments of the international adoptions effected in accordance
with this Agreement, transmitting, every six months during the first two years following
a legally declared adoption, follow-up reports duly legalized by the diplomatic
mission and/or the consular establishment.
5. The competent authorities shall ensure that they retain all information relating to the
origins of the child or adolescent and his or her family, if any is known, which it will be
possible to access, subject to the necessary authorizations, within the limits established by
the laws of the two States.
Article 3
Accredited bodies and adoption procedure with accredited bodies
1. The bodies accredited to carry out the procedures provided for in this Agreement
are:
2. In Bolivia: All those that are duly registered with the Office of the Deputy Minister
for Gender, Generational and Family Affairs and that have signed the framework agreements
referred to in the rules and regulations of the Child and Adolescent Code.
3. In Spain: Any body accredited by the Spanish central authorities and authorized by
the Bolivian competent authorities.
Article 4
Adoption procedure
1. The adoptions covered by this Agreement shall take place where:
(a) The competent authority has established that the parents' authority is terminated,
that the child is an orphan and that no family ties exist.
(b) The competent authority of the State of origin of the child or adolescent has established
that international adoption will be in the best interests of the child or adolescent concerned.
(c) The competent authority of the State that is to receive the child or adolescent guarantees
that the future adoptive parents have been declared suitable for international adoption.
(d) The competent body of the State that is to receive the child or adolescent guarantees
that the child or adolescent will be authorized to enter and reside permanently in that State.
(e) The competent authority of the State of origin has, in accordance with its mandate,
allocated future adoptive parents for the child or adolescent in accordance with, in Bolivia,
the provisions of the Child and Adolescent Code, article 65, and the Code's rules and regulations,
as approved under Supreme Decree No. 26086 of 2 March 2001, and, in Spain,
the legislation in force.
Article 5
Procedures
The Contracting States shall, through this Agreement, establish the following procedures
for the adoption of children or adolescents having a permanent residence in Bolivia
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or Spain by nationals of either country, in accordance with the provisions established, in
Bolivia, by Law 2026, of the Bolivian Child and Adolescent Code and Supreme Decree No.
26086 of 2 March 2001, covering every aspect of full adoption, and, in Spain, the legislation
in force.
1. The central authorities of the two States shall authorize the accredited bodies to act
as intermediaries in the arrangement of international adoptions; the bodies shall, in accordance
with the laws of their respective States, appoint legal representatives to carry out the
procedures for international adoptions.
2. In accordance with Law 1788 of 16 September 1997, Supreme Decree No. 24855,
article 34 (f), and Supreme Decree No. 25055, article 16, the Office of the Deputy Minister
for Gender, Generational and Family Affairs, a constituent part of the Ministry of Sustainable
Development and Planning, shall, in its capacity as the central authority, be the institution
which, in Bolivia, shapes, regulates, oversees and supervises childhood and youth
policies for the purposes of the Agreement.
3. The Spanish competent authorities shall, through the accredited bodies duly authorized
to work with adoptions in Bolivia, transmit to the Children's and Youth Courts requests
for the adoption of Bolivian children or adolescents by citizens resident in Spain, in
accordance with the provisions of the Child and Adolescent Code of Bolivia.
4. The legal authority permitting the adoption of Bolivian children or adolescents shall
reside with the Children's and Youth Courts in the nine departmental judicial districts, in
accordance with the provisions of articles 298 ff. of the Child and Adolescent Code.
5. Adoption proceedings in Bolivia, instituted with the Office of the Deputy Minister
for Gender, Generational and Family Affairs by the legal representative of the accredited
body, shall be of an official nature, giving effect to the relevant procedure, and shall involve
no other intermediary.
6. Applications by Bolivian nationals residing in Bolivia to adopt a child or adolescent
residing in Spain shall be processed by the competent bodies in both countries, which shall
give effect to the relevant procedure of the State of the child or adolescent.
Article 6
Communications
Official communications relating to this Agreement shall be directed to the following
addresses:
In Bolivia: The Office of the Deputy Minister for Gender, Generational and Family Affairs,
or such institution as shall in the future, in accordance with the law, assume the functions
and responsibilities thereof.
In Spain: In view of the distribution of authority in respect of the protection of minors
in Spain, the Directorate General for Social Action, Minors and the Family, a constituent
part of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, shall be the central authority for the purposes
of communication, as stated in article 2, paragraph 1, of this Agreement, and, in respect
of processing adoption applications, the various Spanish central authorities shall act
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in their capacity as the public bodies responsible for the protection of minors in the territory
of their respective autonomous communities.
In accordance with article 3 of this Agreement, the representatives of the accredited
bodies in Bolivia shall decide on a legal address in the territory of Bolivia which shall in
due course be communicated to the central authority of Bolivia.
Final provisions
1. Upon the ratification by Bolivia of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children
and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption, and by agreement between the
Contracting Parties, the principles and precepts of the Convention shall prevail in the interests
of the implementation of this Agreement.
2. For the purposes of this Agreement, the terms "child or adolescent" and "minor"
shall be considered synonymous.
3. This Agreement shall apply provisionally from the date of signature and shall enter
permanently into force on the first day of the second month following the final notification
by which the Parties shall inform each other, through the diplomatic channel, of completion
of their domestic legal requirements.
4. This Agreement shall remain in force indefinitely, but either signatory State may terminate
it by giving six months' notice, in writing, through the diplomatic channel.
5. Amendments may be made to this Agreement in the future in the event of a change
in the regulations relating to the legal institution of adoption involving changes in the procedures
provided for in this Agreement, such amendments to take account of existing
changes and innovations. The Contracting States shall agree on the form and conditions of
such amendments.
6. Any competent authority finding that any of the provisions of this Agreement have
not been observed or that there is a clear risk that they will not be observed shall immediately
inform the central authority of the State to which it belongs in order that adequate
measures may be taken.
Done at Madrid on 29 October 2001, in two original copies in the Spanish language,
both texts being equally authentic.
For the Kingdom of Spain:
M
IGUEL ANGEL CORTÉS MARTÍNSecretary of State for International Cooperation and for Ibero-America
For the Republic of Bolivia:
G
USTAVO FERNÁNDEZ SAAVEDRAMinister for Foreign Affairs and Worship