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

Transmission of maintenance order made in United Kingdom for recognition and enforcement in Hague Convention country. U.K.

2.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, where the payer under a maintenance order made, whether before, on or after 5th April 1993, by a court in the United Kingdom is residing in a Hague Convention country, the payee under the order may apply for the order to be sent to that country for recognition and enforcement.

(2) Subsection (1) above shall not have effect in relation to a maintenance order made under section 3 of this Act or to an order by virtue of a provision of Part II of this Act.

(3) Every application under this section shall be made in the prescribed manner to the prescribed officer of the court which made the maintenance order to which the application relates.

(4) If, on an application duly made under this section to the prescribed officer of a court in the United Kingdom, that officer is satisfied that the payer under the maintenance order to which the application relates is residing in a Hague Convention country, the following documents, that is to say–

(a) a certified copy of the maintenance order;

(b) a certificate signed by that officer certifying that the order is enforceable and that it is no longer subject to the ordinary forms of review;

(c) a certificate of arrears so signed;

(d) a statement giving such information as the officer possesses as to the whereabouts of the payer;

(e) a statement giving such information as the officer possesses for facilitating the identification of the payer;

(f) where available, a photograph of the payer;

(g) a written statement signed by that officer as to whether or not the payer appeared in the proceedings in which the maintenance order was made and, if he did not appear, the original or a certified copy of a document which establishes that notice of the institution of the proceedings, including notice of the substance of the claim, was served on the payer;

(h) a document which establishes that notice of the order was sent to the payer; and

(i) a written statement signed by that officer as to whether or not the payee received legal aid either in the said proceedings or in connection with the said application,

shall be sent by that officer, in the case of a court in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, to the Lord Chancellor, or, in the case of a court in Scotland, to the Secretary of State, with a view to their being transmitted by the Lord Chancellor, or, as the case may be, the Secretary of State, to the appropriate authority in the Hague Convention country if he is satisfied that the statement relating to the whereabouts of the payer gives sufficient information to justify that being done.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be taken as affecting any jurisdiction of a court in the United Kingdom with respect to a maintenance order to which this section applies, and subject to section 5 any such order may be enforced, varied or revoked accordingly.

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. 3 para. 2 in force at 5.4.1993, see art. 1