A court in Malawi will deliver its ruling on whether Madonna can permanently adopt a three-year-old boy next week, a Malawian attorney for the US pop diva said on Thursday.

"We have been advised by the high court that the ruling is now on Wednesday, the 28th May," Alan Chinula told AFP.

The court postponed its ruling last week and high court judge Andrew Nyirenda had been expected to hand down the verdict this week after a closed-door hearing in the capital Lilongwe.

"I have sent an e-mail to my clients (Madonna) and we are all looking forward to the ruling... yes or no," Chinula added.

A Malawian social worker Simon Chisale has recommended to the court that the pop star be given permanent custody in a report compiled after a visit to the London home of Madonna and her filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie.

Chisale had recommended that the adoption should be rubber-stamped after an interim custody order was granted 18 months ago.

Chinula said the report gave Madonna good reason to be confident about the final verdict from the judge. "There were favourable reports. I am hopeful that the ruling will be favourable as well," he said.

David's father, who comes from a dusty rural outpost in the central region of Mchinji near the Zambian border, has previously given his backing to the adoption so that his son can escape a life of grinding poverty.

Having given birth to a daughter, Lourdes, and a son, Rocco, Madonna was won over by tiny David on a visit to an Aids orphanage in October 2006.

Critics have accused her of using her vast wealth to fast-track the adoption process, a charge she has vigorously denied.

Although Madonna herself has been widely praised for her charity work in Malawi, the adoption case triggered a storm of controversy in the southeast African nation.

A coalition of 67 local rights groups challenged the interim custody order on the grounds that existing laws in Malawi do not allow for international adoptions.