A/HRC/34/55 14. Owing to the breadth of issues touching on illegal adoption, the practice of kafalah, the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad and international commercial surrogacy arrangements are not covered in the present study. 15. In preparation for the study, the Special Rapporteur held an expert meeting in Leiden, the Netherlands, on 19 and 20 September 2016. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank Leiden University for hosting the meeting, Terre des Hommes Netherlands for organizing it and for providing resources for the substantive research, and the expert participants for their inputs during the preparation of the study. B. International legal framework 16. In the preamble of the Convention on the Rights of the Child it is recognized that children should grow up in a family environment. In articles 7 and 8, it is stated that children have, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by their parents and the right to preserve their identity, including family relations. In addition, States must ensure that children shall not be separated from their parents against their will, except when it is in their best interests (art. 9). 17. The Convention provides in article 20 that a child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State. The care envisaged in the Convention can include foster placement, kafalah of Islamic law, adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions for the care of children. In that context, adoption should be understood as one possibility among several alternative child protection measures to provide a family environment to the child. In addition, the development of international child rights norms and standards shows that the placement in institutions should only be used as a measure of last resort, when it is absolutely necessary and when it is in the best interests of the child. 9 18. Article 21 of the Convention sets the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration in all matters related to adoption. 10 In addition, its implementation obliges States to ensure that the adoption of a child is authorized only by competent authorities who determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that the adoption is permissible in view of the child’s status concerning parents, relatives and legal guardians and that, if required, the persons concerned have given their informed consent to the adoption on the basis of such counselling as may be necessary. Article 24 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and article 4 of the European Convention on the Adoption of Children (Revised) also require the best interests of the child to be the paramount consideration in adoption processes. 19. In addition, in respect to intercountry adoptions, article 21 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes the principle of subsidiarity and the prohibition of improper financial gain for those involved in the adoption process. It also establishes that the same level of safeguards and standards for domestic adoptions apply in the context of intercountry adoptions. Regarding the principle of subsidiarity, article 21 states that intercountry adoption may be considered as an alternative means of child’s care, if the child 9 10 See Committee on the Rights of the Child general comment No. 9 (2006) on the rights of children with disabilities, para. 47. For an analysis on the determination of the best interests of the child in respect to adoption see https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/unicef%20best%20interest%20document_web_resupply.pdf. 5