ied in Schedule 2. AAR 20A.2 stipulates that an authorised person is:  in Scotland, a Justice of the Peace or a Sheriff  in Northern Ireland, a Justice of the Peace  outside the United Kingdom:  any person authorised by law in the place where the consent is given to administer an oath for any judicial or other legal purpose  a British consular officer  a public notary or  an officer holding a commission in any of the regular armed forces of the Crown. 2.89. Once formal witnessed consent is given, the agency is authorised to place the child for adoption. Once the procedures set out in chapter 4 have been complied with, it will therefore be possible to place the child with a prospective adopter. Even if consent is given, the agency should consider whether it can rely on the parent’s consent remaining in place. If there is a question of placing the child outside the British Islands, the procedures set out in the Adoptions with a Foreign Element Regulations 2005 and the guidance on intercountry adoption must be followed. ‘Consent’ where the child is under six weeks old 2.90. Section 52(3) of the Act makes it clear that any consent to adoption given by a mother before her child is six weeks old is ineffective. Special provision is therefore made for those cases where it is desirable to place a child as soon as possible, but formal consent to adoption must not be sought before the child is 6 weeks old. 55 2.91. Where the agency decision-maker decides that the child should be placed for adoption and the parent has been notified, the agency must not seek at this stage to obtain the formal consents to placement for adoption or to adoption using the prescribed forms under sections 19 and 20 of the Act. But the agency is permitted to ascertain, after careful counselling, wh