Legislation
preventing same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples from adopting
has been deemed unlawful by the High Court of Northern Ireland.

Mr Justice
Treacy said the ban discriminated against all unmarried couples, gay or
straight, and was against the best interests of children.

The Northern
Ireland Health Minister, Edwin Poots is to challenge the ruling although he
says he will do so with “a heavy heart”.

Welcoming
the decision, the head of the Human Rights Commission in the North, Professor
Michael O’Flaherty, a long-standing campaigner for gay causes, said: “Given the
high number of children in care who need a family in Northern Ireland, the
importance of this case in widening the pool of prospective parents cannot be
overstated.”

The
judgement made no comment on whether it is in a child’s best interests to be
adopted by a properly assessed married man and woman, as distinct from an
unmarried man and woman or a same-sex couple.