The Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

Variation, lapse, discharge and termination of orders N.I.

104.—(1) A court of summary jurisdiction may make an order varying (including suspending or reviving) or discharging an attachment of earnings order.

(2) Where an order is varied, the employer shall, if he has been served with notice of the variation, comply with the order as varied; but he shall be under no liability for non-compliance before seven days have elapsed since the service.

(3) Where an order is discharged, the employer shall be under no liability in consequence of his treating the order as still in force at any time before the expiration of seven days from the date on which notice of the discharging order is served on him.

(4) Magistrates' courts rules may make provision as to circumstances in which an attachment of earnings order may be varied or discharged by a court of summary jurisdiction of its own motion.

(5) Where an attachment of earnings order has been made and the person to whom it is directed ceases to have the debtor in his employment, the order shall lapse (except as respects deduction from earnings paid after the cesser and payment to the creditor, the collecting officer or the prescribed person (as the case requires) of amounts deducted at any time) and be of no effect unless and until a court of summary jurisdiction revives it by again directing it to a person (whether the same as before or another) who appears to the court to have the debtor in his employment.

(6) The lapse of an order under paragraph (5) shall not prevent its being treated as remaining in force for other purposes.

(7) An attachment of earnings order made by a court of summary jurisdiction to secure the payment of any money shall cease to have effect upon the making of an order of committal or the issue of a warrant of distress in respect of that money.

(8) An attachment of earnings order shall cease to have effect—

(a) upon the grant of an application for registration in the High Court under Part II of the Maintenance and Affiliation Orders Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 of the order which is to be enforced;

(b) where the order which is to be enforced is registered under the said Part II, upon the giving of notice with respect of it under section 14 of that Act of 1966 with a view to cancellation of its registration;

(c) upon the rescission or revocation of the order which is to be enforced or upon its being discharged while it is not registered under the said Part II, unless a court of summary jurisdiction otherwise orders with a view to recovering arrears under that order;

(d) upon the order which is to be enforced ceasing to be registered in a court in Northern Ireland, or becoming registered in a court in another part of the United Kingdom, under Part II of the Maintenance Orders Act 1950.

(9) Where an attachment of earnings order ceases to have effect under paragraph (7) or (8), such officer of such court as may be prescribed by magistrates' courts rules shall give notice of the cesser to the employer.

(10) Where an attachment of earnings order ceases to have effect under paragraph (7) or (8), paragraph (3) shall apply as it applies in a case where such an order is discharged.