MOSCOW, June 17 (RAPSI) - Russia's Constitutional Court ruled that permitted adoption disclosure in exceptional cases and when it is in the interests of descendants, according to court records.

According to the ruling, the closed adoption regulation does not contradict the Constitution per se as it promotes a harmonious relationship between a child and his or her adoptive family.

However, genetic origin data may be required, for example, to prevent hereditary diseases or to prevent marriage between blood relatives. Refusal to provide the information may be a violation of constitutional rights, the court said.

The Constitutional Court ruled that a court may disclose adoption details on a reasonably grounded request from descendants if they only become aware of the adoption after the death of the adoptee and his or her adoptive parents; that is, when it is impossible to obtain consent for an adoption disclosure otherwise.

Judge Larisa Krasavchikova stressed that, if adoptive parents for some reason did not reveal the adoption while alive, then adoption privacy must be respected even after their deaths, as should the legal implications of the adoption. The Constitutional Court is granting courts the right to decide case by case whether the descendants of adoptees can obtain the details of an adoption in order to exercise their right to know the origin of their parents.