On Friday, June 19, Vey & Associés took part in a conference at the French National Assembly dedicated to illegal practices in intercountry adoption.

Alongside historians, institutional representatives, legal practitioners, and, most importantly, adoptees, Maëlys Renoux San Millan participated in a panel discussion on the challenging pursuit of justice and reparation, together with Amélie Beauchemin (WJ Avocats) and Professor Olivier de Frouville.

Our experience representing individuals who were illegally adopted from Ethiopia highlights several major obstacles to establishing the truth and obtaining recognition of the harm they have suffered:

• The absence of a specific criminal offence: French criminal law does not recognize illegal intercountry adoption as a standalone offence. Prosecution therefore relies on general criminal offences—such as fraud, kidnapping, or incitement to abandon a child—which fail to reflect either the specific nature or the seriousness of these practices.

• An inadequate statute of limitations: Irregularities are often discovered decades after the events took place. By that time, the limitation period has frequently expired.

• Significant evidentiary obstacles: the destruction or disappearance of archives, denial of access to case files, the complexity of international judicial cooperation, and the absence of a specialized investigative service all make it extremely difficult to establish the facts.

Many thanks to all the participants for the richness of their contributions and discussions.