The Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 1996

7.  The court cannot make an adoption order without your agreement unless it dispenses with your agreement on certain grounds. The grounds on which a court can dispense with a parent’s agreement are that he or she:–

(a) is not known, cannot be found, or is incapable of giving agreement;

(b) is withholding agreement unreasonably;

(c) has persistently failed, without reasonable cause, to fulfil one or other of the following parental responsibilities in relation to the child–

(i) the responsibility to safeguard and promote the child’s health, development and welfare; or

(ii) if the child is not living with him, the responsibility to maintain personal relations and direct contact with the child on a regular basis;

(d) has seriously ill-treated the child, whose re-integration into the same household as the parent or guardian is, because of the serious ill-treatment, or for other reasons, unlikely.