IRISH couples who are considered suitable adoptive parents and who wish to adopt Chinese babies, will challenge in the High Court the Adoption Board's refusal to recognise such adoptions.
The dispute centres on whether the laws of the State and China can be reconciled and come within the terms of the State's 1991 Adoption Act.
The board opposes the adoptions on the basis that Chinese statute provides for termination of an adoption by agreement between parties.
The Irish couples involved in the hearing claim such a situation could not arise in their cases, since abandoned babies are involved.
Yesterday, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Costello, set Tuesday next for the hearing of proceedings brought by way of a judicial review sought by the couples.
Mr James Connolly SC, for the couples, said the application for judicial review was made with some urgency last week.
Ms Nastaise Leddy, counsel for the Adoption Board, said her clients were ready to proceed.
Mr Connolly said the urgency arose because his clients wanted to adopt children who were in Chinese orphanages.
He recognised that this was a matter of public law and his clients were not pressing for the matter to be held in camera.
Mr Justice Costello said he was not holding that yesterday's application by Mr Connolly was in camera.
The question of whether next Tuesday's judicial review hearing should be in camera would be a matter for the trial judge.