STATUTES
| Date | 01 November 1972 |
| Published date | 01 November 1972 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1972.tb01345.x |
STATUTES
MAINTENANCE ORDERS (RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT) ACT
1972
THIS
Act is designed to give greater financial protection to persons in
this country when those liable
to
support them are resident abroad.
Conversely,
it
will also enable dependants residenit abroad
to
enforce
rights to maintenance more easily against persons in this country.
It introduces reforms that the increasing movement of population
has made long overdue-a movement that is likely to increase
further with our entry into the
EEC.
Part
I
replaces with some significant modifications the provisions
of the Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act
1920
(which is repealed). Part
I1
gives effect in this country
to
the
United Nations Convention on (the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance
of
1956.
Further changes are made by Part
111.
The Act will come
into force on a day or days to be appointed: no order has yet been
made bringing any section into operation.
It
must be stressed that this Aclt does not apply when the parties
are residing in different jurisdictions within the United Kingdom.
Such cases are still governed by the Maintenance Orders Act
1950
and the Matrimonial Proceedings (Magistrates' Courts) Act
1960.
Part
I:
reciprocal enforcement
of
maintenance orders
There are three important differences between the provisions
of
this Part and those of the Maintenance Orders (Facilities for
Enforcement) Act
1920.
First, the new Act applies to Scotland.'
Secondly, whereas the earlier Act could be extended only to other
jurisdictions within the Commonwealth (and therefore could not be
extended to the Republic of Ireland), section
1
of the new Act
enables
any
country or territory outside the United Kingdom to be
designated as a
"
reciprocating country
"
by Order in Council
if
reciprocal facilities will be accorded there to British orders.2 Thirdly,
affiliation orders are no longer excluded from the Act, which defines
a
"
maintenance order
"
as an order (including an affiliation order)
providing for periodical payments towards the maintenance of
any person whom the payer is liable to maintain under the law of
1
The reason that the Act of
1920
did not apply
to
Scotland
is
that there
are
no
collecting officers in the sheriff court. The provisions relat,ing
to
Scotland in the new Act have to be more complex to overcome this difficulty.
2
Presumably all parts
of
the Commonwealth to which the Act of
1920
has
been applied will
be
designated
as
reciprocating countries:
for
the
full
list, see Rayden,
Dioorce,
11th ed.,
pp.
2044-2045.
The Order in Council
may
limi! the operation of the Act to certain tppes
of
maintenance orders
in
any
given case:
6.
1
(2).
625
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