CAPACIDAD, IDONEIDAD Y ELECCIÓN DE LOS ADOPTANTES EN LA ADOPCIÓN INTERNACIONAL: UN RETO PARA EL ORDENAMIENTO JURÍDICO ESPAÑOL.

Abstract

Different countries' laws regulate the prospective parent screening process using three different categories: capability, suitability, eligibility. The definition of these categories (i.e., definition of the capacity to adopt, the suitability of the adoptive parents and the selection and assignment of adoptive parents for a particular child) is one of the most controversial legal issues in current regulations on international adoption in Spain, and that is so for three reasons: - Because what is at issue is the legal definition of psycho-social concepts. - Because in this matter, as in others, the law of the child's country of origin and the country of arrival are both involved, and conflicts of law may spring from the differences in the underlying culture of family law. - Because of the distribution of powers under Spanish law, which leads to variation in the weight that regional governments' opinions have on the criteria of suitability and preference; furthermore, there are differences in the ways these concepts are seen by the administration and the courts.