Parliament group ZNAM advances bill to allow limited access to sealed adoption files

Parliament passed in first reading a proposal that would allow restricted access to tightly sealed adoption files, primarily for medical reasons. If adopted in its final form, the draft law from the parliamentary group ZNAM grants adult adoptees the right to a limited review of their origins when there is a demonstrable medical need; each request would be judged individually by an expert commission.

Under the proposal, biological relatives and adoptive parents could also obtain access when justified by medical grounds. First- and second-degree blood relatives would be permitted to receive information from the file only after they produce the explicit consent of the adult adoptee.

Expert panel to weigh and restrict access

"We proposed that official secrecy over the data remain, but that it may be breached for health reasons, when an adoptee needs to obtain insight into illnesses of the biological parents. We propose that the ministry form a professional body, made up of experts, which will permit and limit access, and that the adoptee and their relatives up to the second degree have the right to the data," said Vesna Bendevska, Vice President of the Assembly.

The shift in policy follows a 2024 judgment by the European Court of Human Rights in the case Mitrevska v. Macedonia, in which the state was sued for denying access to records despite a medical need. The Strasbourg court found that domestic authorities violated the right to private life (Article 8 of the Convention) by applying the statutory ban without weighing the competing interests.

Bendevska emphasized that the issue is sensitive and involves competing rights; she said lawmakers plan a public debate with specialists from relevant fields before the bill proceeds to second reading. The draft envisages that the ministry will establish the expert body to evaluate requests and set conditions for the limited disclosures.

Photo: press material from the event