The Family Procedure Rules 2010

CHAPTER 2 REGISTRATION ETC. OF ORDERS UNDER THE 1950 ACT

SECTION 1 Interpretation of this Chapter

Interpretation

32.2.  In this Chapter—

“the clerk of the Court of Session” means the deputy principal clerk in charge of the petition department of the Court of Session;

“county court order” means a maintenance order made in a county court;

“High Court order” means a maintenance order made in the High Court;

“maintenance order” means a maintenance order to which section 16 of the 1950 Act applies;

“Northern Irish order” means a maintenance order made by the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland;

“the register” means the register kept for the purposes of the 1950 Act;

“the registrar in Northern Ireland” means the chief registrar of the Queen’s Bench Division (Matrimonial) of the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland;

“registration” means registration under Part 2 of the 1950 Act and “registered” is to be construed accordingly; and

“Scottish Order” means a maintenance order made by the Court of Session.

SECTION 2 Registration etc of High Court and county court orders

Registration of a High Court order

32.3.—(1) An application for the registration of a High Court order may be made by sending to a court officer at the court which made the order—

(a) a certified copy of the order; and

(b) a statement which—

(i) contains the address in the United Kingdom, and the occupation, of the person liable to make payments under the order;

(ii) contains the date on which the order was served on the person liable to make payments, or, if the order has not been served, the reason why service has not been effected;

(iii) contains the reason why it is convenient for the order to be enforced in Scotland or Northern Ireland, as the case may be;

(iv) contains the amount of any arrears due to the applicant under the order;

(v) confirms that the order is not already registered; and

(vi) is verified by a statement of truth.

(2) If it appears to the court that—

(a) the person liable to make payments under the order resides in Scotland or Northern Ireland; and

(b) it is convenient for the order to be enforced there,

the court officer will send the documents filed under paragraph (1) to the clerk of the Court of Session or to the registrar in Northern Ireland, as the case may be.

(3) On receipt of a notice of the registration of a High Court order in the Court of Session or the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland, the court officer (who is the prescribed officer for the purposes of section 17(4) of the 1950 Act) will—

(a) enter particulars of the notice of registration in the register;

(b) note the fact of registration in the court records; and

(c) send particulars of the notice to the principal registry.

Notice of Variation etc. of a High Court order

32.4.—(1) This rule applies where a High Court order, which is registered in the Court of Session or the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland, is discharged or varied.

(2) A court officer in the court where the order was discharged or varied will send a certified copy of that order to the clerk of the Court of Session or the registrar in Northern Ireland, as the case may be.

Cancellation of registration of a High Court order

32.5.—(1) This rule applies where—

(a) the registration of a High Court order registered in the Court of Session or the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland is cancelled under section 24(1) of the 1950 Act; and

(b) notice of the cancellation is given to a court officer in the court in which the order was made (who is the prescribed officer for the purposes of section 24(3)(a) of the 1950 Act(1)).

(2) On receipt of a notice of cancellation of registration, the court officer will enter particulars of the notice in Part 1 of the register.

Application of this Chapter to a county court order

32.6.  Rules 32.3 to 32.5 apply to an application to register a county court order as if—

(a) references to a High Court order were references to a county court order;

(b) where the order is to be registered in Scotland, references to the Court of Session and the clerk of the Court of Session were references to the sheriff court and the sheriff-clerk of the sheriff court respectively; and

(c) where the order is to be registered in Northern Ireland, references to the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland and the registrar of Northern Ireland were references to the court of summary jurisdiction and the clerk of the court of summary jurisdiction respectively.

SECTION 3 Registration etc. of Scottish and Northern Irish orders

Registration of Scottish and Northern Irish orders

32.7.  On receipt of a certified copy of a Scottish order or a Northern Irish order for registration, a court officer in the principal registry (who is the prescribed officer for the purposes of section 17(2) of the 1950 Act) will—

(a) enter particulars of the order in Part 2 of the register;

(b) notify the clerk of the Court of Session or the registrar in Northern Ireland, as the case may be, that the order has been registered; and

(c) file the certified copy of the order and any statutory declaration, affidavit^(GL) or statement as to the amount of any arrears due under the order.

Application to adduce evidence before High Court

32.8.  The Part 18 procedure applies to an application by a person liable to make payments under a Scottish order registered in the High Court to adduce before that court any evidence on which that person would be entitled to rely in any proceedings brought before the court by which the order was made for the variation or discharge of the order.

Notice of variation etc. of Scottish and Northern Irish orders

32.9.—(1) This rule applies where—

(a) a Scottish order or a Northern Irish order, which is registered in the High Court, is discharged or varied; and

(b) notice of the discharge or variation is given to a court officer in the High Court (who is the prescribed officer for the purposes of section 23(1)(a) of the 1950 Act(2)).

(2) On receipt of a notice of discharge or variation, the court officer will enter particulars of the notice in Part 2 of the register.

Cancellation of registration of Scottish and Northern Irish orders

32.10.—(1) The Part 18 procedure applies to an application for the cancellation of the registration of a Scottish order or a Northern Irish order in the High Court.

(2) The application must be made without notice to the person liable to make payments under the order.

(3) If the registration of the order is cancelled, the court officer will—

(a) note the cancellation in Part II of the register; and

(b) send written notice of the cancellation to—

(i) the clerk of the Court of Session or the registrar in Northern Ireland, as the case may be; and

(ii) the court officer in any magistrates’ court in which the order has been registered in accordance with section 2(5) of the 1958 Act.

Enforcement

32.11.—(1) The Part 18 procedure applies to an application for or with respect to the enforcement of a Scottish order or a Northern Irish order registered in the High Court.

(2) The application may be made without notice to the person liable to make payments under the order.

Inspection of register and copies of order

32.12.  Any person—

(a) who is entitled to receive, or liable to make, payments under a maintenance order made by the High Court, the Court of Session or the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland; or

(b) with the permission of the court,

may—

(i) inspect the register; or

(ii) request a copy of any order registered in the High Court under Part 2 of the 1950 Act and any statutory declaration, affidavit^(GL) or statement filed with the order.

(1)

Section 24(3)(a) was amended by section 3 of and paragraph 9 of Schedule 3 to the Administration of Justice Act 1977 (c.38).

(2)

Section 23(1)(a) was amended by section 3 of and paragraph 8 of Schedule 3 to the Administration of Justice Act 1977.