FL v Registrar General
[2010] EWHC 3520 (Fam) · High Court (Family Division)
What happened: A daughter wanted information about the origins of her deceased adopted father. She sought disclosure through the Registrar General, using a legal provision that required exceptional circumstances. The case concerned that particular route to registration information, rather than a general application to inspect every record connected with her father's adoption.
What the court decided: The court found that the required exceptional circumstances had not been established and refused disclosure under that provision. A later case, Re X in 2014, distinguished this route from the court's separate power to allow access to an adoption court file.
Why it matters to adoptees: Descendants can inherit the gaps in knowledge created by an adoption, but their legal route to information may differ from the route available to the adopted person. This decision helps explain why the identity of the applicant and the type of record matter. It should not be read as saying that descendants can never learn about their family's origins. Other access routes and later changes in the law require separate consideration.
Original judgment review pending
Re X (2014) distinguished this statutory route from court file access. Wider later treatment not comprehensively reviewed.
Limitations: Does not mean descendants can never obtain information. Other routes and subsequent legislative changes need separate checking.
Case details and sources
Adoptee involvement: Descendant of an adopted person bringing the application.
Remedy sought: Disclosure refused under the route used.
Legal route: Application under section 79(4)
Judgments in this case
- [2010] EWHC 3520 (Fam) · High Court (Family Division) · 2010-05-24 · Judgment
Sources checked
- Re X (2014): later judicial account (opens in a new tab)
paragraphs 19–24 and 30–32 · Later judgment
Review scope: Official later judgment reviewed for facts, outcome and route distinction. Original full judgment retrieval failed.
Human verification pending. Entry: CASE-NEW-005.