STATUTES
| Date | 01 March 1959 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1959.tb02168.x |
| Published date | 01 March 1959 |
STATUTES
MAINTENANCE
ORDERS
ACT,
1958
(1)
THE Maintenance’ Orders Act,
1958,
is one of those statutes
which deal with enforcement procedure, but the potential effect of
which in the shaping of the law in practice may be greater than
that of many changes
in
substantive principles.
No
attempt will
be made here to review the procedural details
of
a statute which
is inevitably of a highly technical character. But the enforcement
of maintenance orders, whether made by the High Court
or
by
a
magistrates’ court
or
(under the Guardianship
of
Infants Acts
I)
by a county court, raises points
of
principle, and the Act introduces
at least
four
measures of reform which are fundamental:
(a)
Through the registration mechanism laid down in Part
I,
High
Court and county court orders are made enforceable
-h
the magis-
trates’ court, and magisterial orders in the High Court. This is
discussed below under
(2).
(b) Part
I1
brings English law into
line with the law of Scotland and with that of many other countries
by making maintenance orders enforceable through the attachment.
of claims to
“
earnings,”
i.e.,
wages, salary and other emoluments
payable under a contract of service, as well as pensions and similar
payments.’ (c)
In
Part
III
the irrational rule is abolished by which the imprisonment of the
defendant under a magisterial warrant of commitment wipes out the
arrears
of
maintenance for which he
is
committed.’ (d)
In
Part
III
steps have also been taken
to
restrict imprisonment for debt by
providing that normally
a
debtor will not be committed where his
earnings can be attached,’ that imprisonment may not exceed
six
weeks,‘ and that normally
no
debtor can be committed more than
1
Guardianship and Maintenance of Infants Act,
1951,
8.
1.
a
For details see
8.
21
(1)
of the Act.
It
includes fees, bonus, commission,
overCime pay, and pensions and annuities whether or not the person paying
the annuity waa the recipient of the services.
It
also includes periodical
payments by way of compensation for
loss
of office, etc. But,!t does not
include payments by public departments of governments outside
the
United
Kin dom or
of
Northexn Ireland
”
pay or allowances payable to members of
H.d.
Forces, national insurance benefit of
any
kind, or disablement or dis-
ability pensions. Nor does it include payments
to
seamen or apprentices
to
the
sea service, presumably because, like the armed forces, they are covered by
other statutory provisions for deduction from pay in respect of maintenance
orders. See Report of the Royal Commission
on
Marriage and Divorce, Cmd.
9678,
p.
283,
note
33.
*
8.
74 (8)
of the Magistrates’ Courts Act,
1952,
as amended by
8.
16 (1)
of the
present Act. This is based
on
Recommendation
129
of the Royal Commission
(see para.
1108
of the Report). The provision has retrospective effect within
the limits laid down in
a.
16 (2).
4
8.
74
(6)
(a)
of
the
1952
Act, as amended by
s.
16
(1)
of the present Act.
9
8.
74 (7)
of the
1952
Act, as amended by
a.
16
(1)
of the present Act, and
retrospective within the limits of
8.
16
(2).
This is discussed below under
(8).
175
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