3. An application for an adoption order shall be made by originating application in Form 1. The proposed adopter shall be the applicant and the persons mentioned in Rule 14 shall be the respondents. The application shall be supported by an affidavit verifying the several statements therein.
4. Save as provided in Rule 8 no person shall be served or furnished with a copy of the application.
5. If any person proposing to apply to the Court for an adoption order desires that his identity should be kept confidential, he may, before presenting an originating application, apply to the Registrar for a serial number to be assigned to him for the purposes of the proposed application, and the Registrar shall assign such a number to him accordingly.
6.-(1) Any document attached to the application signifying the consent of any person to the making of an adoption order shall be in Form 2.
(2) Where a certificate has been obtained under section 4(5) (b) of the Law from the proper religious authority it shall be attached to the application.
7. If it appears that the applicant has previously made an application for an adoption order in respect of the same infant either to the same or any other Court, the application shall not be proceeded with unless the Court is satisfied that there has been a substantial change in the circumstances since the previous application.
8. Subject to the provisions of Rule 7, where an application is made to the Court for an adoption order, the Court shall as soon as practicable appoint a welfare officer within whose area the applicant or the infant resides to be the guardian ad litem of the infant for the purposes of the application and shall cause one copy of the originating application and of the documents attached thereto to be served on him together with an undertaking by the applicant in Form 3 to pay the welfare officer's proper costs for acting as guardian ad litem for the infant.
9. It shall be the duty of the guardian ad litem to investigate as fully as possible all circumstances relevant to the proposed adoption with a view to safeguarding the interests of the infant before the Court, and to make a report to the Court for that purpose; and in particular it shall be his duty-
(a) to make inquiries as to all matters alleged in the application, and as to the additional matters specified in Appendix Β to these Rules, and to report to the Court upon them;
(b) to interview (either by himself or by an agent appointed by him for the purpose) every individual being an applicant for the order, or mentioned in the originating application as a person to whom reference may be made, or a person on whom notice of the application is required to be served under Rule 14;
(c) to satisfy himself, within twenty-one days of the service of the originating application on him, whether the infant is, or is not, of an age to understand the effect of an adoption order, and, if he is satisfied that he is,-
(i) to notify the Court forthwith that the infant is in his opinion of such an age;
(ii) to find out whether the infant has been informed of the application and of the said effect, and, if he has not been so informed, to inform him thereof;
(d) to attend the Court whenever required for the purposes of the application.
10. The guardian ad litem, any agent of his, and every welfare officer shall treat as confidential all information obtained in the course of the investigation, and shall not divulge any part of it to any other person except so far as may be necessary for the proper execution of his duty.
11. Where a welfare officer is appointed under these Rules as guardian ad litem, and he is unable to carry out his duties owing to illness, absence or other reasons beyond his control, anything required or authorized by these Rules to be done by the guardian ad litem may be done by any other welfare officer duly authorized ad litem may be done by any other welfare officer duly authorised by the Welfare Authority in that behalf provided the Authority shall have first notified the Court of such authorization and the reasons thereof.
12. An application under sub-section (4) of section 5 of the Law, for leave to remove the infant from the care and possession of the applicant shall be made personally to the Court, and notice thereof shall be served on the guardian ad litem.
13. Where leave to remove the infant form the care and possession of the applicant is granted under sub-section (4) of section 5 of the Law, the Court may, upon granting leave, dismiss the application for the adoption order.
14. When a guardian ad litem has made his report to the Court the Registrar shall fix a date and time for the hearing of the application, and shall serve a notice in Form 4 on the following persons, that is to say:-
(a) the applicant;
(b) every person whose consent to the order is required under subsection (4) of section 4 of the Law;
(c) the guardian ad litem;
(d) any other person, not being the infant, who, in the opinion of the Court, ought to be served with a notice;
and any person on whom a notice is required to be served under this Rule shall be a respondent to the application.
15. Where the Court is notified by the guardian ad litem under paragraph (c) of Rule 9 of these Rules that the infant is in his opinion of an age to understand the effect of an adoption order, the Registrar shall serve on the applicant a notice in Form 5.
16. Subject to Rule 17, the Court shall not make an adoption order or an interim order except after the personal attendance before the Court of the applicant, the infant (unless in the opinion of the Court he is not of an age to understand the effect of the adoption order) and the guardian ad litem; but except as aforesaid, the personal attendance of a person served with a notice under Rule 14 shall not be required unless it appears to the Court that there are special circumstances which render his attendance necessary.
17. Where the application is made jointly, the Court may dispense with the personal attendance of one of the applicants if the originating application is verified by an affidavit shorn by that applicant, or, if made outside Cyprus, by declaration made by him and attested by a person of the class prescribed by Rule 40.
18. Unless it appears from the originating application, or is otherwise shown to the satisfaction of the Court, that the applicant does not desire his identity to be kept confidential, the proceedings shall be conducted with a view to securing that he is not seen by or made known to any person (other than the infant or the spouse of the applicant) whose consent to the order is required; and in particular the Court shall direct that the applicant (unless his attendance is dispensed with under Rule 17) shall attend and be heard and examined separately and apart from any such person as aforesaid.
19.-(1) All documents filed in the Court shall be confidential and shall be kept secret by the Registrar.
(2) Every application for an adoption order or an interim order shall be heard and determined in camera.
20. The hearing of the application shall not be adjourned at the instance of the applicant unless the Court is satisfied that there are special circumstances which render the adjournment necessary or expedient.
22. Within seven days after the making of an adoption order, the Registrar shall send a certified copy of the order to the Chief Registrar and shall also, subject to the payment by the applicant of the prescribed fee, deliver or send a certified copy to the applicant.
23. An adoption order, and any copy of such an order sent to the Chief Registrar, shall be drawn up on paper of foolscap folio size, thirteen inches by eight inches, and shall have a margin to be left blank, not less than one inch wide, on the left side of the face of the paper and a similar margin on the right side of the reverse, if any.
24. Any copy of an order which is sent by post in accordance with Rule 22 shall be sent by registered post the receipt whereof shall be acknowledged by the Chief Registrar.
25. No duplicate or copy of an adoption order or interim order shall be given to or served upon any person other than the Chief Registrar or the applicant except by special direction of the Court by which the order was made.
26. Where an adoption order is made or refused or an interim order made, the Registrar shall notify all parties who were not present when the order was made or refused, without disclosing the identity of the applicant unless he does not desire his identity to be kept confidential.
27. Where the determination of an application is postponed and an interim order made-
(a) the applicant shall, at least two months before the expiration of the period specified in the interim order, apply to the Court by which the order was made to proceed to the final determination of the application;
(b) the Registrar shall thereupon fix a time for the further hearing of the application, and shall serve on every person served with a notice under Rule 14 a notice in Form 8.
28. If no such application as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of Rule 27 is made within the time required by that paragraph, an application for the purposes of that rule may be made at any time thereafter by the guardian ad litem or any person served with a notice under Rule 14 and the provisions of Rule 27 shall have effect accordingly.
29. An order under section 15 of the Law for the amendment of an adoption order may be made ex parte.
30. Where an order for the amendment of an adoption order is made as aforesaid the Registrar shall send to the Chief Registrar a notice specifying the date of the adoption order and the names of the adopter and of the adopted person (as described in the Schedule to the adoption order) and stating what amendments are to be made in the particulars specified in that order.