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New Law Passed in Guatemala

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Dear Staff & Families:

As anticipated, new adoption legislation was passed in Guatemala today. The new law (3735) was passed as drafted and will become effective on December 31st. All of the old cases will need to be registered with the new Central Authority by January 30th in order to continue under the current laws.

The Central Authority will be an autonomous organization called the Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (CNA). The CNA will have a directive body made up of 1 representative each from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Supreme Court, and Social Welfare (Bienestar Social). Each organization must name its representative within 2 weeks of the effective date and write regulations with 60 days of the effective date.

I will give you more feedback about the law itself after we had a chance to read it (we have the copy) and analyze it.  

Bruce Mossburg
Director of International Adoptions