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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Madonna gets her Malawi child
Source: Agencies |
June 13, 2009, Saturday
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MADONNA can adopt a second child from Malawi, the southern African country's highest court ruled yesterday, overturning a lower court's decision it said was out of touch with the times.
Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo, reading the three-judge panel's ruling, also said the singer's commitment to helping disadvantaged children should have been taken into account when deciding on Madonna's request to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James.
Madonna has founded a charity, Raising Malawi, which helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi's more than 1 million orphans, half of whom have lost a parent to AIDS.
Children's welfare groups had expressed concern that rules meant to protect children were being bent because of Madonna's celebrity, and perhaps out of gratitude for what she has done for the poor and AIDS-ravaged Malawi.
Madonna's lawyer Alan Chinula said his client was "excited at the news."
Chinula said he would arrange a passport for Chifundo, which could take a few days, and was awaiting Madonna's word on travel plans for the girl. The adoption may not be finalized for some time.
Madonna had appealed after the lower court ruled that she could not adopt the girl because the singer had not spent enough time in Malawi. The lower court said residency rules had been bent when Madonna adopted her son David from Malawi last year.
The appeals court said that was a narrow interpretation based on old laws.
"In this global village a man can have more than one place at which he resides," Munlo said in the ruling, which took more than an hour to read in court yesterday.
"The matter of residence should be determined at the time of application of the adoption. In this case, Madonna was in Malawi not by chance but by intention. She is looking after several orphans whose welfare depends on her. She can therefore not be described as a sojourner."
Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo, reading the three-judge panel's ruling, also said the singer's commitment to helping disadvantaged children should have been taken into account when deciding on Madonna's request to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James.
Madonna has founded a charity, Raising Malawi, which helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi's more than 1 million orphans, half of whom have lost a parent to AIDS.
Children's welfare groups had expressed concern that rules meant to protect children were being bent because of Madonna's celebrity, and perhaps out of gratitude for what she has done for the poor and AIDS-ravaged Malawi.
Madonna's lawyer Alan Chinula said his client was "excited at the news."
Chinula said he would arrange a passport for Chifundo, which could take a few days, and was awaiting Madonna's word on travel plans for the girl. The adoption may not be finalized for some time.
Madonna had appealed after the lower court ruled that she could not adopt the girl because the singer had not spent enough time in Malawi. The lower court said residency rules had been bent when Madonna adopted her son David from Malawi last year.
The appeals court said that was a narrow interpretation based on old laws.
"In this global village a man can have more than one place at which he resides," Munlo said in the ruling, which took more than an hour to read in court yesterday.
"The matter of residence should be determined at the time of application of the adoption. In this case, Madonna was in Malawi not by chance but by intention. She is looking after several orphans whose welfare depends on her. She can therefore not be described as a sojourner."
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