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The International Recovery of Maintenance (Hague Convention 2007 etc.) Regulations 2012

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Regulation 5

SCHEDULE 1E+WRECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF F1... MAINTENANCE DECISIONS, AND ESTABLISHMENT AND MODIFICATION OF MAINTENANCE OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE CONVENTION

This schedule has no associated Explanatory Memorandum

Textual Amendments

InterpretationE+W

1.—(1) In this Schedule—

“Contracting State” means a State bound by the Convention F2...;

“court”, in relation to a maintenance decision given in a Contracting State, includes a tribunal, and any administrative authority (within the meaning of Article 19(3)) with competence to make a decision in respect of a maintenance obligation;

“maintenance decision” means a decision, or part of a decision, made by a court in a Contracting State, to which Chapter V of the Convention applies by virtue of Article 19(1).

(2) In this Schedule, any reference to a numbered Article is a reference to the Article so numbered in the Convention and any reference to a sub-division of a numbered Article shall be construed accordingly.

F3(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

Recognition and enforcement of maintenance decisions made by courts in Contracting StatesE+W

2.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), the court in England and Wales to which an application for registration of a maintenance decision under the Convention is to be made is [F4the family court] .

(2) An application for registration is to be transmitted by the Lord Chancellor to [F5the family court] (“the registering court”).

(3) Jurisdiction in relation to applications for registration of maintenance decisions lies with the courts of England and Wales if—

(a)the person against whom enforcement is sought is resident in England and Wales, or

(b)assets belonging to that person and which are susceptible to enforcement are situated or held in England and Wales.

(4) An application for registration shall be determined in the first instance by the prescribed officer of the registering court. In this sub-paragraph and in sub-paragraph (5), “prescribed” means prescribed by rules of court.

(5) The decision of the prescribed officer may be appealed to the registering court in accordance with rules of court.

(6) For the purposes of the enforcement of a maintenance decision registered under the Convention in the registering court—

(a)the decision shall be of the same force and effect,

(b)the registering court shall have in relation to its enforcement the same powers, and

(c)proceedings for or with respect to its enforcement may be taken,

as if the decision had originally been made by the registering court.

(7) Sub-paragraph (6) is subject to sub-paragraph (8).

(8) A maintenance decision which is so registered shall be enforceable in [F6the family court] in the same manner as a maintenance order made by that court, F7.... .

In this sub-paragraph “maintenance order” has the meaning given by [F8section 1(10) of the Maintenance Enforcement Act 1991]

(9) Sub-paragraph (6) is also subject to—

(a)paragraph 3;

(b)any provision made by rules of court as to the procedure for the enforcement of maintenance decisions registered in accordance with this paragraph.

(10) The debtor under a maintenance decision registered in accordance with this paragraph in [F9the family court] must give notice of any change of address to the [F10court officer of the family court in the Designated Family Judge area in which the maintenance decision is registered].

In this sub-paragraph, “debtor” has the meaning given by Article 3.

(11) A person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with sub-paragraph (10) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.

Textual Amendments

Interest on judgmentsE+W

3.—(1) Subject to [F11sub-paragraph (2)] and rules of court as to the payment of interest under this paragraph, where a person applying for registration of a maintenance decision shows that—

(a)the decision provides for the payment of money, and

(b)in accordance with the law of the Contracting State in which the maintenance decision was given and the terms of the decision, interest on that sum is recoverable at a particular rate and from a particular date or time,

the debt resulting from registration of the decision is to carry interest at that rate and from that date or time.

(2) Interest is not recoverable under sub-paragraph (1) unless the rate of interest and the date or time referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(b) are registered with the decision.

F12(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F13(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

Currency of payments under a maintenance decisionE+W

4.—(1) Sums payable under a maintenance decision registered in England and Wales under the Convention, including any arrears so payable, shall be paid in sterling.

(2) Where the maintenance decision is expressed in any other currency, the amounts shall be converted on the basis of the exchange rate prevailing on the date on which the application for registration was received by the Lord Chancellor for transmission to a court.

(3) For the purposes of this paragraph, a written certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of any bank in England and Wales and stating the exchange rate prevailing on a specified date shall be evidence of the facts stated.

Proof and admissibility of certain maintenance decisions and related documentsE+W

5.—(1) For the purposes of proceedings relating to the Convention a document, duly authenticated, which purports to be a copy of a maintenance decision given by a court in a Contracting State shall without further proof be deemed to be a true copy, unless the contrary is shown.

(2) A document purporting to be a copy of a maintenance decision given by a court in a Contracting State is duly authenticated for the purposes of this paragraph if it purports—

(a)to bear the seal of that court; or

(b)to be certified by any person in that person's capacity as a judge or officer of that court to be a true copy of a maintenance decision given by that court.

(3) Nothing in this paragraph shall prejudice the admission in evidence of any document which is admissible apart from this paragraph.

Maintenance arrangementsE+W

6.—(1) References in this paragraph to maintenance arrangements are to those maintenance arrangements (as defined in Article 3(e)) which are to be recognised and enforceable in the same way as maintenance decisions by virtue of Article 30.

(2) In relation to a maintenance arrangement which is enforceable as a maintenance decision in the Contracting State of origin, this Schedule applies, subject to the modifications in sub-paragraphs (3), (4) and (5), as if that maintenance arrangement was a maintenance decision given by a court of that State.

(3) Paragraph 2 applies to maintenance arrangements as if—

(a)in sub-paragraph (6), for “as if the decision had originally” there were substituted “ as if it were a decision which had originally ”;

(b)after sub-paragraph (9)(b) there were inserted—

“(c)Article 30(6) (restriction on enforcement where there is a challenge to a maintenance arrangement in the Contracting State of origin).”.

(4) Paragraph 3 applies to maintenance arrangements as if in sub-paragraph (1)(b), for the word “given” there were substituted “ concluded ”.

(5) Paragraph 5 applies to maintenance arrangements as if—

(a)in sub-paragraph (1), for “given by a court” there were substituted “ formally drawn up or registered as an authentic instrument by, or authenticated by, or concluded, registered or filed with a competent authority ”;

(b)for sub-paragraph (2) there were substituted—

“(2) A document purporting to be a copy of a maintenance arrangement drawn up or registered as an authentic instrument by, or authenticated by, or concluded, registered or filed with a competent authority in a Contracting State is duly authenticated for the purposes of this paragraph if it purports to be certified to be a true copy of such an arrangement by a person duly authorised in that State to do so.”.

(6) Section 18 M1 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 does not apply to maintenance arrangements.

Marginal Citations

Applications for establishment or modification of maintenance in England and WalesE+W

7.—(1) Upon receipt of an application submitted under Article 10 for establishment or modification of a decision, the Lord Chancellor shall send that application to [F14the court officer of the family court in [F15the Maintenance Enforcement Business Centre for the area]] in which the respondent is residing.

(2) Upon receipt of the application under sub-paragraph (1), the [F16court officer] of that court shall decide—

(a)whether the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction to determine the application by virtue of F17... Schedule 6 to the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments (Maintenance) Regulations 2011 M2; and

[F18(b)if so, whether the family court has the power to make the decision or modification sought under the law in force in England and Wales.]

(3) Where the [F19court officer] decides under sub-paragraph (2)(a) that the courts of England and Wales do not have jurisdiction to determine the application, the [F19court officer] shall return the application to the Lord Chancellor with a written explanation of the reasons for that decision.

F20(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5) Subject to sub-paragraph (6), if the [F21court officer] decides under sub-paragraph (2)(b) that the [F22family court] has power to make the decision or modification sought, the [F21court officer] shall issue the application and serve it on the respondent.

(6) If the respondent does not [F23reside in the area covered by the Maintenance Enforcement Business Centre] [F24to which the application has been sent, the court officer] shall—

(a)if satisfied that the respondent is residing within [F25the area covered by another Maintenance Enforcement Business Centre], send the application to the [F26court officer of the family court] in [F27the Maintenance Enforcement Business Centre for] that other area and inform the Lord Chancellor that it has been so sent; or

(b)if unable to establish where the respondent is residing, return the application to the Lord Chancellor.

(7) A [F28court officer] who receives an application by virtue of sub-paragraph (6)(a) shall proceed under sub-paragraph (5) as if that [F28court officer] had decided that the [F29family court] has power to make the decision or modification sought.

(8) Where the [F30court officer] has determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (2)(b) that the [F31family court] has power to make the decision or modification sought, the application shall be treated for the purpose of establishment or modification of a decision under the [F32law in force in England and Wales.]

(9) In this paragraph—

“respondent” means the person who is alleged in an application for establishment of a decision under Article 10 to owe maintenance, or where the application is for modification of a decision, the applicant for the original decision; and a reference to an application is a reference to an application together with any documents which accompany it.

Textual Amendments

Marginal Citations

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