madonna and mercy jamesMadonna’s adoption appeal hearing has been adjourned to allow her lawyers more time to prepare their case.

After the star’s request to adopt three year old Mercy James was turned down last month, her lawyers returned to court in Malawi yesterday to appeal the ruling, which they claim was based on an “outdated” residency law.

Madonna’s main lawyer in the country Alan Chinula led the appeal - but asked for the session to be adjourned after just 30 minutes when he admitted he had not seen documents from the country’s Human Rights Commission, which argued the little girl should stay close to her remaining family.

He told the court: “We are in the dark about the bunch of documents served on us.”

The documents include a letter from Mercy’s biological father James Kimbewa, in which he criticises Madonna’s morals and parenting skills, and says he’d prefer to raise the girl herself. Mercy was sent to an orphanage shortly after her mum died in childbirth in 2005 - Kimbewa himself had disappeared during the pregnancy and claims he didn’t return on her birth because he was told Mercy had died along with her mum.

Kimbewa has been dubbed an “opportunist” by Madonna’s council but he has been quoted as saying: “I may be poor but I think I have what it takes to raise a daughter. I will fight the adoption.”

The case is expected to return to court at the end of this week.