In this Part of this Act, if not inconsistent with the context, “Court” means the Supreme Court.

On the death of the father of an infant (whether before or after the coming into operation of this Act) the mother, if surviving, shall be the guardian of such infant, either alone (where no guardian has been appointed by the father) or jointly with any guardian appointed by the father.

If no guardian has been appointed by the father, or if the guardian appointed by the father is dead or refuses to act, the Court may, if it thinks fit, from time to time appoint a guardian to act jointly with the mother.

The mother of any infant may by deed or will appoint any person to be guardian of the infant after the death of herself and the father of such infant (if such infant is then unmarried), and where guardians are appointed by both parents they shall act jointly.

The mother of any infant may by deed or will provisionally nominate some person to act as guardian of such infant after her death jointly with the father of such infant; and the Court, after her death, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Court that the father is for any reason unfitted to be the sole guardian of his children, may confirm the appointment of such guardian, who shall thereupon be authorised and empowered so to act as aforesaid, or make such other order in respect of the guardianship as the Court thinks right.

In the event of guardians being unable to agree upon a question affecting the welfare of an infant, any of them may apply to the Court for its direction, and the Court may make such order regarding the matters in difference as it thinks proper.

Every guardian under this Act shall have all such powers over the estate and the person, or over the estate, as the case may be, of an infant as any guardian appointed by will or otherwise now has in England under the Act twelve Charles the Second, chapter twenty-four, or otherwise.

The Court may, on the application of the mother of any infant (who may apply without next friend), make such order as it thinks fit regarding the custody of such infant and the right of access thereto of either parent, having regard to the welfare of the infant, and to the conduct of the parents, and to the wishes as well of the mother as of the father; and may alter, vary, or discharge such order on the application of either parent, or, after the death of either parent, of any guardian under this Act; and in every case may make such order respecting the costs of the mother and the liability of the father for the same or otherwise as to costs as it thinks just.

The Court may, in its discretion, on being satisfied that it is for the welfare of the infant, remove from his office any testamentary guardian or any guardian appointed or acting by virtue of this Act, and may also, if it deems it to be for the welfare of the infant, appoint another guardian in place of the guardian so removed.

In any case where a decree for judicial separation, or a decree either nisi or absolute for divorce, is pronounced, the Court pronouncing such decree may thereby declare the parent by reason of whose misconduct such decree is made, to be a person unfit to have the custody of the children (if any) of the marriage; and in such case the parent so declared to be unfit shall not, upon the death of the other parent, be entitled as of right to the custody or guardianship of such children.

No agreement contained in any separation deed made between the father and mother of an infant shall be held to be invalid by reason only of its providing that the father of such infant shall give up the custody or control thereof to the mother:

Provided that no such agreement shall be enforced by any Court if it is of opinion that it will not be for the benefit of the infant to give effect thereto.

Rules for regulating the practice and procedure in any proceedings under this Part of this Act, and the forms in such proceedings, may from time to time be made in the same manner and by the same authority as general rules of practice and procedure may from time to time be made for the Court under any Act for the time being in force authorising the making of such last-mentioned rules.

Nothing in this Part of this Act shall restrict or affect the jurisdiction of the Court to appoint or remove guardians or otherwise in respect of infants.

All contracts, whether by specialty or by simple contract, entered into by infants for the repayment of money lent or to be lent, or for goods supplied or to be supplied (other than contracts for necessaries), and all accounts stated with infants, shall be absolutely void:

Provided that this enactment shall not invalidate any contract into which an infant may, by any existing or future statute, or by the rules of common law or equity, enter, except such as now by law are voidable.

No action shall be brought whereby to charge any person upon any promise made after full age to pay any debt contracted during infancy, or upon any ratification made after full age of any promise or contract made during infancy, whether there is or is not any new consideration for such promise or ratification after full age.

Every male infant not under the age of nineteen years, and every female infant not under the age of eighteen years, after his or her marriage shall be competent to make a valid will disposing of all or any part of his or her real and personal property.

In this Part of this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

On the application in writing, in the prescribed form, to a Judge by—

an order of adoption of a female child may be made by the Judge in favour of the applicant, in the prescribed form and subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act.

On the application in writing, in the prescribed form, to a Judge by—

an order of adoption of a male child may be made by the Judge in favour of the applicant, in the prescribed form and subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act.

Before making such order of adoption the Judge—

The affidavit referred to in paragraph (b) hereof may be sworn before any Judge, Magistrate, solicitor, Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, Clerk of the Court, or any Justice.

Except by husband and wife, as hereinbefore mentioned, no child shall be adopted by more than one person.

It shall not be lawful for any person adopting a child under this Act to receive any premium or other consideration in respect of such adoption, except with the consent of a Judge.

Such order of adoption shall confer the name of the adopting parent on the adopted child, in addition to the proper name of the child; and the adopted child shall for all purposes, civil and criminal, and as regards all legal and equitable liabilities, rights, benefits, privileges, and consequences of the natural relation of parent and child, be deemed in law to be the child born in lawful wedlock of the adopting parent:

Provided that such adopted child shall not by such adoption—

Where such order of adoption has been made, the adopting parent shall for all purposes, civil, criminal, or otherwise, be deemed in law to be the parent of such adopted child, and be subject to all liabilities affecting such child as if such child had been born to such adopting parent in lawful wedlock; and such order of adoption shall thereby terminate all the rights and legal responsibilities and incidents existing between the child and his natural parents, except the right of the child to take property as heir or next-of-kin of his natural parents directly or by right of representation.

Any Judge for the time being exercising jurisdiction within the district where any order of adoption was made, whether by himself or by any other Judge, may in his discretion vary, reverse, or discharge such order, subject to such terms and conditions as he thinks fit.

Where an order of adoption is discharged, then, subject to the conditions (if any) named in the discharging order, the child and its natural parents shall be deemed for all purposes to be restored to the same position inter se as existed immediately before the order of adoption was made:

Provided that such restoration shall not affect anything lawfully done whilst the order of adoption was in force.

Notwithstanding anything in section eighteen hereof, if the Judge making an order of adoption of any child is satisfied that any parent or guardian of the child is for any reason unfit to have the custody or control of the child, and that notice of the application for the order of adoption has been given to such parent or guardian, the said Judge may, if he thinks fit, in making the said order dispense with the consent of such parent or guardian.

Any parent or guardian whose consent is thus dispensed with may, within one month after the making of the order of adoption, make application to any Judge of the Supreme Court, on notice to the adopting parent or parents, to discharge such order, and the said Judge may in his discretion discharge such order accordingly on such terms as he thinks fit.

Any such discharge shall have the same effect as a discharge made under section twenty-two hereof.

On the application in writing of the manager for the time being of any benevolent or other institution established in connection with any religious denomination, and not maintained by Government subsidy, who is desirous of adopting any deserted child in connection with such institution, the Judge usually exercising jurisdiction in the district wherein such institution is situated, on being satisfied—

may make an order authorising the manager for the time being of such institution to adopt such child in connection with the institution, such child retaining his or her own name, and in no manner inheriting or succeeding to any property, or otherwise howsoever, of such manager or institution.

Sections nineteen to twenty-one hereof shall not apply to the case of a child adopted under this section, except as to the determination of all rights of the child’s natural parents, and as to the rights of the child to take property, as respectively stated in section twenty-one hereof:

Provided that such child shall be entitled to the support, maintenance, and advancement afforded by such institution, and all such other rights, benefits, privileges, and advantages appertaining thereto, all of which it shall be the duty of the person or body managing or controlling the said institution to provide.

The Governor may from time to time make such rules as he thinks fit prescribing the forms and mode of procedure to be used in exercising the jurisdiction hereby conferred upon any Judge, and prescribing the mode of registering and keeping a proper register of all orders made under this Part of this Act, and also prescribing the fees to be paid in respect of such procedure, registration, and otherwise, and generally giving full effect to this Part of this Act.

Nothing in this Part of this Act shall be construed to authorise any marriage that could not lawfully have been contracted if this Act had not been passed.

In this Part of this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

Any person who, having the custody, control, or charge of a child, being a boy under the age of fourteen years or being a girl under the age of sixteen years, wilfully ill-treats, neglects, abandons, or exposes such child or causes or procures such child to be ill-treated, neglected, abandoned, or exposed, in a manner likely to cause such child unnecessary suffering or injury to its health, is liable—

If it is proved that a person convicted on indictment as aforesaid was interested in any sum of money accruable or payable in the event of the death of the child, and had knowledge that such sum of money was accruing or becoming payable, the Court may, in its discretion, increase the amount of the said fine so that it shall not exceed two hundred pounds.

Such interest as aforesaid in any sum of money accruable or payable in the event of the death of the child shall be charged in the indictment and put to the jury in the same way, as far as may be, as a previous conviction is now charged and put.

Any person who causes or procures—

is liable on conviction in a summary way, at the discretion of the Court, to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds, or alternatively, or in default of payment of the said fine, or in addition thereto, to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding three months.

Any Magistrate who for the time being is exercising jurisdiction within the district of any local authority may, if he thinks it necessary or desirable so to do, from time to time by a written permission extend or restrict the hours mentioned in paragraph (b) of this section, either on every day or on any specified day or days of the week, and either as to the whole of such district or as to any specified area therein.

In the case of any entertainment or series of entertainments to take place in premises licensed according to law for public entertainments, or in any circus or other place of public amusement as aforesaid, where it is shown to the satisfaction of a Magistrate that proper provision has been made to secure the health and kind treatment of any children proposed to be employed thereat, the Magistrate, anything in this Act notwithstanding, may grant a license, for such time and during such hours of the day and subject to such restrictions and conditions as he thinks fit, for any child exceeding seven years of age, of whose fitness to take part in such entertainment or series of entertainments without injury he is satisfied, to take part in such entertainment or series of entertainments; and such license may at any time be varied, added to, or rescinded by the same or any other Magistrate, on sufficient cause being shown; and such license shall be sufficient protection to all persons acting under or in accordance with the same.

A Magistrate may assign to any Inspector appointed under “The Factories Act, 1908,” the duty of seeing whether the restrictions and conditions of any license under this section are duly complied with; and any such Inspector shall have the same power to enter, inspect, and examine any place of public entertainment at which the employment of a child is for the time being licensed under this section as he has to enter, inspect, and examine a factory under the said Act.

Any constable may take into custody without warrant any person who within view of such constable commits an offence against this Part of this Act, where the name and residence of such person are unknown to and cannot be ascertained by such constable; and any constable may take to a place of safety any child in respect of whom an offence against section twenty-eight or paragraph (a) of section twenty-nine hereof has been committed, and the child may there be detained until it can be brought before a Justice; and such Justice may cause the child to be dealt with as circumstances admit and require until the charge made against any person in respect of the said offence has been determined by the committal for trial, or conviction, or discharge of such person.

Where a constable arrests any person without warrant in pursuance of this section, the Inspector or constable in charge of the station to which such person is conveyed shall, unless in his belief the release of such person on bail would tend to defeat the ends of justice, or to cause injury or danger to the child against whom the offence is alleged to have been committed, release the person arrested on his entering into such a recognisance, with or without sureties, as may in his judgment be required to secure the attendance of such person upon the hearing of the charge.

Where the person having the custody or control of a child, being a boy under the age of fourteen or a girl under the age of sixteen years, has been—

any person may bring such child before a Magistrate.

The Magistrate, if satisfied on inquiry that it is expedient so to deal with the child, may order that the child be taken out of the custody of such person and committed to the charge of a relation of the child, or some other fit person named by the Magistrate, such relation or other person being willing to undertake such charge until it attains the age of fourteen years, or in the case of a girl sixteen years, or in either case for any shorter period; and such Magistrate or any other Magistrate may of his own motion, or on the application of any person, from time to time renew, vary, or revoke any such order.

No order shall be made under this section unless a parent of the child is under committal for trial for having been, or has been proved to have been, party or privy to the offence, or has been bound over to keep the peace towards such child.

Any person to whom a child is so committed shall, whilst the order is in force, have the like control over the child as if he were its parent, and shall be responsible for its maintenance, and the child shall continue under the control of such person, notwithstanding that it is claimed by its parent; and any Magistrate having power so to commit a child shall have power to make the like orders under “The Destitute Persons Act, 1908,” on the parent of the child to contribute to its maintenance during such period as aforesaid as if the child were detained in an industrial school under “The Industrial Schools Act, 1908,” and such orders may be made on the complaint or application of the person to whom the child is for the time being committed; and the sums contributed by the parent shall be paid to such person as any Magistrate from time to time may name, and be applied for the maintenance of the child.

In determining on the person to whom the child shall be so committed, the Magistrate shall endeavour to ascertain the religious denomination to which the child belongs, and shall, if possible, select a person of the same religious denomination, and such religious denomination shall be specified in the order; and in any case where the child has been placed pursuant to any such order with a person not of the same religious denomination as that to which the child belongs, the Magistrate who made the original order, or any other Magistrate, shall, on the application of any person in that behalf, and on its appearing that a fit person of the same religious denomination is willing to undertake the charge, make an order to secure his being placed with a person of the same religious denomination.

But if the order to commit the child to the charge of some relation or other person is made in respect of any person having been committed for trial for an offence, as specified in paragraph (b) of subsection one of this section, the Magistrate shall not be empowered to order the parent of the child to contribute to its maintenance prior to the trial of such person; and if he is acquitted of such charge, or if such charge is dismissed for want of prosecution, then any order made under this section shall forthwith be void, except with regard to anything lawfully done under it.

The Minister of Internal Affairs may at any time in his discretion discharge a child from the custody of any person to whom it is committed in pursuance of this section, either absolutely or on such conditions as he approves; and may, if he thinks fit, from time to time make rules in relation to children so committed to any person, and to the duties of such persons with respect to such children.

If it appears to any Magistrate or to any two Justices, on information made before him or them on oath by any person who, in the opinion of the Magistrate or Justices, is bona fide acting in the interest of any child, that there is reasonable cause to suspect that such child, being a boy under the age of fourteen years or a girl under the age of sixteen years, has been or is being ill-treated or neglected in a manner likely to cause she child unnecessary suffering or to be injurious to its health, such Magistrate or Justices may issue a warrant authorising any person named therein to search for such child, and, if it is found to have been or to be ill-treated or neglected in manner aforesaid, to take it to and detain it in a place of safety until it can be brought before a Justice; and. any such Justice before whom the child is brought may cause it to be dealt with in the manner provided by section thirty hereof.

The Magistrate or Justices issuing such warrant may by the same warrant cause any person accused of any offence in respect of the child to be apprehended and brought before a Magistrate or two Justices, and proceedings to be taken for punishing such person according to law.

Any person authorised by warrant under this section to search for any child, and to take it to and detain it in a place of safety, may enter (if need be by force) any house, building, or other place specified in the warrant and remove the child therefrom.

Every warrant issued under this section shall be addressed to and executed by some Inspector or other superior officer of police, who shall be accompanied by the person making the information, if such person so desires, unless the Magistrate or Justices otherwise direct, and may also, if the Magistrate or Justices so direct, be accompanied by a registered medical practitioner.

The powers hereinbefore conferred on any two Justices may be exercised by any one Justice, if on the information it appears to him to be a case of urgency.

In any proceeding against any person for an offence against this Part of this Act such person shall be competent but not compellable to give evidence, and the wife or husband of such person may be required to attend to give evidence as an ordinary witness in the case, and shall be competent but not compellable to give evidence.

Wherein any proceeding against any person for an offence against this Part of this Act the child in respect of whom the offence is charged to have been committed, or any other child of tender years who is tendered as a witness, does not, in the opinion of the Court, understand the nature of an oath, the evidence of such child may be received, though not given on oath, if, in the opinion of the Court, such child is possessed of sufficient intelligence to justify the reception of the evidence and understands the duty of speaking the truth.

The evidence of such child, though not given on oath or affirmation, but otherwise taken and reduced into writing, in accordance with the provisions of sections one hundred and thirty-eight and one hundred and thirty-nine of “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908,” shall be deemed to be a deposition within the meaning of those sections:

Provided that a person shall not be liable to be convicted of the offence unless the testimony admitted by virtue of this section and given on behalf of the prosecution is corroborated by some other material evidence in support thereof implicating the accused.

Any child whose evidence is received as aforesaid, and who wilfully gives false evidence, is liable to be indicted and tried for such offence, and on conviction thereof may be adjudged such punishment as is provided for by section two hundred and thirty of “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908,” in the case of juvenile offenders.

Where a person is charged with an offence against this Part of this Act in respect of a child who is alleged in the charge or indictment to be under any specified age, and the child appears to the Court to be under that age, such child shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be under that age unless the contrary is proved.

Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act as to proceedings on indictment, every penalty or fine imposed by or under this Part of this Act may be proceeded for and recovered in a summary way under the provisions of “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908.”

Where in pursuance of this Part of this Act any person is convicted in a summary way of an offence, and such person did not plead guilty or admit the truth of the information, or where in the case of any application to a Magistrate under section thirty-one hereof any party thereto thinks himself aggrieved by any order or decision of the Court or Magistrate, he may appeal against such conviction, or order, or decision to the Supreme Court in accordance with the provisions of “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908.”

Where an offence against this Act is also punishable under any other Act, it may be prosecuted and punished under either Act, but so that no person shall be punished twice for the same offence.

Nothing in this Part of this Act shall be construed to take away or affect the right of any parent, teacher, or other person having the lawful control or charge of a child to administer reasonable punishment to such child.

In this Part of this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

The Minister may from time to time appoint such officers as he deems necessary for the purposes of this Part of this Act, and may assign to any such officer such duties, authorities, and functions as he thinks fit.

It shall not be lawful for any person, in consideration of any payment or reward, to receive or retain in his care or charge any infant for the purpose of nursing or maintaining it apart from its parents or guardians for a longer period than seven consecutive days unless such person is licensed under this Part of this Act as a foster-parent.

The Minister may from time to time by warrant exempt from the provisions of this section—

Every person who desires to obtain a license under the provisions of this Part of this Act shall make application in the prescribed form to the Secretary or to such other officer as the Minister from time to time appoints to receive such applications.

If, after such inquiry as he thinks fit, the Secretary or other officer as aforesaid is satisfied as to the character and fitness of the applicant and the suitability of the house proposed to be used by the applicant as a foster-home, he shall issue a license to the applicant.

The holder of a license shall be entitled to receive and maintain in the house specified in the license any infants (not exceeding at any one time the number specified in the license) for the purpose of nursing or maintaining such infants apart from their parents or guardians.

The license shall have effect for a period of one year from the date of issue, and may be renewed from year to year in the manner hereinbefore provided with respect to the issue of licenses.

The license may at any time during its currency be revoked by the Minister; and on any such revocation the Minister may make such order as he thinks fit for the removal of any infants then in the foster-home and for their reception in some other foster-home or otherwise, or he may issue a warrant for the admission of any such infant to an industrial school.

Such warrant shall have the same effect as an order of admission to an industrial school made by a Magistrate under “The Industrial Schools Act, 1908.”

The foster-parent shall at all times keep a record-book in the prescribed form, and shall at the prescribed times and in the prescribed manner enter in such record-book such particulars as may be required by regulations to be entered.

Any foster-parent who fails to observe the requirements of this section, or who makes any false entry in any such record-book, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

No payment or reward shall be made or given to or received by a foster-parent in respect of any infant except in pursuance of an agreement approved by the Secretary or other person authorised by the Minister.

If default is made in payment of any sum payable under any such agreement, the amount thereof, or such part of that amount as the Secretary thinks fit, may be paid to the foster-parent by the Secretary, and shall be recoverable by the Secretary in the manner provided by section fifty-one hereof:

Provided that no such payment shall be made by the Secretary after the child attains the age of fifteen years, or is removed from the foster-home, or dies.

Where any such agreement is for payment of a lump sum, such lump sum shall be deposited with the Secretary or other officer as aforesaid and not paid to the foster-parent, and in such case the foster-parent shall be entitled to receive from the Secretary out of the sum so deposited a weekly payment of such amount as may be agreed between the Secretary and the foster-parent:

Provided that, save as aforesaid, no payment out of the sum so deposited shall be receivable by the foster-parent after the infant dies or is removed from the foster-home, and the residue then remaining in the hands of the Secretary shall be returned to the person from whom it was received.

When and so long as any sum of money recoverable by the Secretary by virtue of the last preceding section remains unpaid, he shall have and may exercise, to the exclusion of any other person, the same powers and rights in respect of the child on whose behalf the said sum was paid as if he were the guardian of such child appointed by the Supreme Court under Part I of this Act, but the powers and rights so conferred upon him shall cease when the child attains the age of fifteen years.

Any officer appointed under this Part of this Act may at any time enter any foster-home, or any premises in which he has reason to believe that any infant is being maintained contrary to the provisions of this Act, and may inspect every part of any such foster-home or premises and examine the state and condition of the infants therein, and also the record-book hereinbefore mentioned.

Such officer may at any time be accompanied by a registered medical practitioner.

Such officer may at any time in cases of emergency (of which he shall be sole judge) remove any infant from any foster-home or other premises as aforesaid.

Every person who obstructs or hinders any such officer in the performance of his duties is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Subject to the provisions of the last preceding section, it shall not be lawful for any person to remove any child (whether under or over the age of six years) from a foster-home, or for the foster-parent to permit such removal, except with the written consent of the Secretary or other officer authorised by the Minister to give such consent.

If any infant dies in a foster-home, the foster-parent shall within twenty-four hours after the death give notice thereof to the constable in charge of the nearest police-station, who shall forthwith communicate to the Coroner the fact of the death and such circumstances relating to the same as he is aware of.

On such communication the Coroner shall procure a report from a registered medical practitioner as to the cause of death, and shall then decide whether or not under the special circumstances of the case an inquest is necessary.

It shall be the duty of the Coroner at such inquest to inquire not only into the immediate cause of death, but also into all the circumstances relating to the treatment and condition of the infant during life which in his opinion should be inquired into in the public interest.

It shall not be lawful for the foster-parent to cause or permit the body of such infant to be buried until the Coroner so authorises by writing under his hand.

A full report of the circumstances attending the death of every such child shall be forwarded by the constable to the Secretary.

All moneys of the Crown expended under the authority of this Part of this Act in respect of any infant (including the expense of medical attendance and of the burial of any infant) shall be a debt due to the Crown for which the near relatives of the infant shall be jointly and severally liable.

The said debt shall be recoverable in a Magistrate’s Court, or in any other Court of competent jurisdiction, by action at the suit of the Secretary in his own name on behalf of the Crown.

Any near relative paying such debt or any part thereof shall have a right of indemnity as against the father and mother of such infant, and as against any person who has been adjudged to be the father of such infant under “The Destitute Persons Act, 1908,” and a right of equal contribution as against all other near relatives of such infant; but for the purposes of this subsection “near relative” in the first line thereof shall not include any person who has been adjudged to be the father of an illegitimate infant.

The term “near relative” in this section includes, except as aforesaid,—

If and whenever any person has been adjudged to be the father of an illegitimate infant, the Registrar of Births for the district in which such infant was born shall, upon receiving notice thereof, which the Magistrate making such order is required to give, enter the name of such person in the register of such birth as the father of such infant.

Every person who commits a breach of any of the provisions of this Part of this Act is liable, if no express provision has been made in this Act to the contrary, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment for any period not exceeding six months.

In any prosecution for an offence against section forty-one or section forty-six hereof, the burden of proving that no payment or reward has been received by the defendant shall lie upon the defendant.

The cost of administration of this Part of this Act shall be paid out of moneys from time to time appropriated by Parliament for that purpose.

The Governor may from time to time, by Order in Council gazetted, make regulations to give effect to the provisions of this Part of this Act.

When any infant is adopted under Part III of this Act, the provisions of this Part of this Act shall apply to such infant and to the person or persons adopting the same in the same manner and to the same extent as if no such adoption had taken place.