The Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (Hague Convention Countries) Order 1993

Cancellation of registration and transfer of order.

10.—(1) Where a registered order is revoked by an order made by a court in a Hague Convention country and notice of the revocation is received by the registering court, the prescribed officer of the registering court shall cancel the registration; but any arrears due under the registered order at the date on which the order of revocation took effect, other than, in the case of a registered order made by a court in a Hague Convention country before the date of the entry into force of the Hague Convention between the United Kingdom and that country, arrears due before that date, shall continue to be recoverable as if the registration had not been cancelled.

(2) Where the prescribed officer of the registering court is of opinion that the payer under a registered order has ceased to reside within the jurisdiction of that court, he shall cancel the registration of the order and, subject to subsection (3) below, shall send the certified copy of the order to the Lord Chancellor.

(3) Where the prescribed officer of the registering court, being a magistrates' court, is of opinion that the payer is residing within the jurisdiction of another magistrates' court in that part of the United Kingdom in which the registering court is, he shall transfer the order to that other court by sending the certified copy of the order to the prescribed officer of that other court.

(4) On the transfer of an order under subsection (3) above the prescribed officer of the court to which it is transferred shall, subject to subsection (6) below, register the order in the prescribed manner in that court.

(5) Where the certified copy of an order is received by the Lord Chancellor under this section and it appears to him that the payer under the order is still residing in the United Kingdom, he shall transfer the order to the appropriate court by sending the certified copy of the order together with the related documents to the prescribed officer of the appropriate court and, subject to subsection (6) below, that officer shall register the order in the prescribed manner in that court.

(6) Before registering an order in pursuance of subsection (4) or (5) above an officer of a court shall take such steps as he thinks fit for the purpose of ascertaining whether the payer is so residing, and if after taking those steps he is satisfied that the payer is not residing within the jurisdiction of the court he shall send the certified copy of the order to the Lord Chancellor.

(7) The officer of a court who is required by any of the foregoing provisions of this section to send to the Lord Chancellor or to the prescribed officer of another court the certified copy of an order shall send with that copy–

(a) a certificate of arrears signed by him;

(b) a statement giving such information as he possesses as to the whereabouts of the payer; and

(c) any relevant documents in his possession relating to the case.

(8) In the application of this section to Scotland–

(a) in subsection (2), for the words “within the jurisdiction of that court” there shall be substituted the words “in Scotland”;

(b) subsections (3) and (4) shall be omitted; and

(c) for the words “Lord Chancellor”, in each place where they occur, there shall be substituted the words “Secretary of State”.