F1[29A Applications by former spouses under the Domestic Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1980.U.K.
(1)This section applies where in the case of any application which by virtue of section 28C of this Act is to be treated as if it were an application for a maintenance order under the Domestic Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 (“the 1980 Order”)—
(a)the applicant and respondent were formerly married,
(b)their marriage was dissolved or annulled in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom by a divorce or annulment which is recognised as valid by the law of Northern Ireland;
(c)an order for the payment of maintenance for the benefit of the applicant or a child of the family has, by reason of the divorce or annulment, been made by a court in a convention country, and
(d)where the order for the payment of maintenance was made by a court of a different country from that in which the divorce or annulment was obtained, either the applicant or the respondent was resident in the convention country whose court made that order at the time that order was applied for.
(2)Any magistrates’ court that would have jurisdiction to hear the application under Article 32 of the 1980 Order (as modified in accordance with subsection (6) below) if the applicant and the respondent were still married shall have jurisdiction to hear it notwithstanding the dissolution or annulment of the marriage.
(3)If the magistrates’ court hearing the application is satisfied that the respondent has failed to comply with the provisions of any order such as is mentioned in subsection (1)(c) above, it may (subject to subsections (4) and (5) below) make any order which it has power to make under Article 4 or 20(1) of the 1980 Order.
(4)The court shall not make an order for the making of periodical payments for the benefit of the applicant or any child of the family unless the order made in the convention country provides for the making of periodical payments for the benefit of the applicant or, as the case may be, that child.
(5)The court shall not make an order for the payment of a lump sum for the benefit of the applicant or any child of the family unless the order made in the convention country provides for the payment of a lump sum to the applicant or, as the case may be, to that child.
(6)The 1980 Order shall apply in relation to the application, and to any order made on the application, with the following modifications—
(a)Article 3 shall be omitted,
(b)for the reference in Article 4(1) to any ground mentioned in Article 3 there shall be substituted a reference to non-compliance with any such order as is mentioned in subsection (1)(c) of this section,
(c)for the references in Article 5(2) and (3) to the occurrence of the conduct which is alleged as the ground of the application there shall be substituted references to the breakdown of the marriage,
(d)the reference in Article 6(2) to the subsequent dissolution or annulment of the marriage of the parties affected by the order shall be omitted,
(e)Articles 8 to 10, 18, 19, 21, 22A, 25(1) and 27 to 30 shall be omitted,
(f)in Article 32(1), the words “either the applicant or” shall be omitted, and
(g)Article 36(1) shall be omitted.
(7)A divorce or annulment obtained in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom shall be presumed for the purposes of this section to be one the validity of which is recognised by the law of Northern Ireland, unless the contrary is proved by the respondent.
(8)In this section “child of the family” has the meaning given in Article 2(2) of the 1980 Order.]
Textual Amendments
F1Ss. 28C, 28D, 28E, 29, 29A, 29B substituted for ss. 28C, 29, 29A (N.I.) (4.11.1996) by S.I. 1995/755 (N.I. 2), art. 185(1), Sch. 9 para. 72 (with Sch. 8 para. 1(1)); S.R. 1996/297, art. 2(2)