In case of foreign adoption, the child must have the same guarantees and measures than those
existing in the case of national adoption.
The state must ensure that the child's placement abroad does not result in improper financial
gain for those involved in it. The Congolese Family Code regulates adoption in Articles 276
to 276 298. The article states: "Adoption may take place only if there is good cause and if it
has advantages for the adoptee ". Article 283 includes an obligation for children aged above
15 years to personally consent to the adoption and article 284 provides for the consent of the
family of origin. The court may decide only after investigation and possibly after checking
that all the legal requirements have been met.
The Law 4 -2010 of 14 June 2010 in its Article 59 refers not only to the provisions of the
Family Code but especially strengthens the mechanism of inter country adoption.
The measures taken by the Congolese legislator in adoption of the child were only in his/her
interest.
The Congolese people have yet a culture of adoption because of the survival of the spirit of
family solidarity, which in practice, and according to the Family Code, extends to the 8th
grade. Which means that because of insecurity or poverty, some parents with brothers, sisters,
cousins, uncles and children in Europe, in the interest of their children, engage increasingly in
intra family adoption. This is understood as the "fostering" of the child to a family member.
Extra family adoption is not significant. The most frequent cases of international adoption,
considering the number of pending cases and judgments, concern children abandoned,
dumped or found.
Due to the leniency that occurs in the courts for holding regular records in general, and those
for adoptions in particular, it is impossible to provide reliable data even in Brazzaville. It
should be noted that in statistical terms, Congo is not a country great purveyor of children for
international adoption. We can estimate an average of 30 children. As an indication, in
Brazzaville, in 2006 and 2007, European families adopted about twenty children, including
Spanish families. In 2010, 19 children were involved; most of them abandoned children
coming from the private and public centres. Applicants are mostly French families.
From 2011 to 2013 statistics from adoption services have established the movement as
follows:
Year
2011
City
National Internat. Total
Brazzaville 35
2
37
Pointe
35
7
42
Noire
Total
70
9
79
Source: Statistics DGAS, Brazzaville, 2013
2012
National Internat. Total
33
5
38
22
3
25
55
8
63
Transfer and non-return (Art. 11)
In case of travelling out and not returning, Law No. 18/64 of 13 July 1964 punishes the
unlawful removal from Congo of a child born to a Congolese mother and a foreign father.
48