Section 19 — Adoption Act 1955: Adoptions according to Maori custom not operative

19 Adoptions according to Maori custom not operative (1) No person shall hereafter be capable or be deemed at any time since the commencement of the Native Land Act 1909 to have been capable of adopting any child in accordance with Maori custom, and, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, no adoption in accordance with Maori custom shall be of any force or effect, whether in respect of intestate succession to Maori land or otherwise. (2) Any adoption in accordance with Maori custom that was made and registered in the Maori Land Court before the 31st day of March 1910 (being the date of the commencement of the Native Land Act 1909), shall during its subsistence be deemed to have and to have had the same force and effect as if it had been lawfully made by an adoption order under Part 9 of the Native Land Act 1909. Compare: 1953 No 94 s 80