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Fiji Legislation |
LAWS OF FIJI
CHAPTER 54
MAINTENANCE ORDERS (FACILITIES FOR ENFORCEMENT)
(Section 20 of the
Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act (Cap. 55) which repealed this
Act has not at the date of this revision
(31 Dec. 1978) yet been brought into
force.)
Ordinances
Nos. 8 of 1922, 27 of 1929, 4 of 1932, 22 of
1961,
37 of 1966, Act No. 14 of
1975
AN ACT TO FACILITATE THE ENFORCEMENT IN FIJI OF MAINTENANCE ORDERS MADE IN ENGLAND OR IRELAND AND VICE VERSA
[16th June, 1922]
Short
title
1. This Act may be cited as the Maintenance Orders
(Facilities for Enforcement)
Act.
Interpretation
2. In
this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"certified copy" in relation to an order of a court means a copy of the order certified by the proper officer of the court to be a true copy;
"dependants" means such persons as that person is liable to maintain under the law in force in England, Ireland or Fiji as the case may be according as the maintenance order was made in England, Ireland or Fiji;
"Ireland" means Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland;
(Inserted by 37 of 1966, s. 15.)
"maintenance order" means an order, other than an order of affiliation, for the periodical payment of sums of money towards the maintenance of the wife or other dependants of the person against whom the order is made;
"prescribed" means prescribed by rules of court.
Enforcement in Fiji of
maintenance orders made in England or Ireland
3. (1) Where a
maintenance order has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act,
been made against any person by any court
in England or Ireland and a certified
copy of the order has been transmitted by the Secretary of State to the
Governor-General, the
Governor-General shall send a copy of the order to the
prescribed officer of a court in Fiji for registration and, on receipt thereof,
the order shall be registered in the prescribed manner and shall from the date
of such registration be of the same force and effect
and, subject to the
provisions of this Act, all proceedings may be taken on such order as if it had
been an order originally obtained
in the court in which it is so registered, and
that court shall have power to enforce the order accordingly.
(2) The
court in which an order is to be so registered, as aforesaid shall, if the court
in which the order was made was a court of
superior jurisdiction, be the Supreme
Court, and, if the court was not a court of superior jurisdiction, be a
magistrates' court.
(Substituted by 4 of 1932, s. 2.)
Transmission of
maintenance orders made in Fiji
4. Where a court in Fiji has,
whether before or after the commencement of this Act, made a maintenance order
against any person and
it is proved to that court that the person against whom
the order was made is resident in England or Ireland, the court shall send
to
the Governor-General for transmission to the Secretary of State a certified copy
of the order.
Provisional order against
person resident in England or Ireland
5. (1) Where an application
is made to a court in Fiji for a maintenance order against any person, and it is
proved that that person
is resident in England or Ireland, the court may, in the
absence of that person, if, after hearing the evidence, it is satisfied
of the
justice of the application, make any such order as it might have made if a
summons had been duly served on that person and
he had failed to appear at the
hearing, but in such case the order shall be provisional only and shall have no
effect unless and
until confirmed by a competent court in England or
Ireland.
(2) The evidence of any witness who is examined on any such
application shall be put into writing and such deposition shall be read
over to
and signed by him.
(3) Where such an order is made the court shall send
to the Governor-General for transmission to the Secretary of State depositions
so taken and a certified copy of the order together with a statement of the
grounds on which the making of the order might have been
opposed if the person
against whom the order is made had been duly served with a summons and had
appeared at the hearing and such
information as the court possesses for
facilitating the identification of that person and ascertaining his
whereabouts.
(4) Where any such provisional order has come before a court
in England or Ireland for confirmation and the order has by that court
been
remitted to the court which made the order for the purpose of taking further
evidence, that court shall, after giving the prescribed
notice, proceed to take
the evidence in like manner and subject to the like conditions as the evidence
in support of the original
application. If upon the hearing of such evidence it
appears to the court that the order ought not to have been made, the court may
rescind the order, but in any other case the depositions shall be sent to the
Governor-General and dealt with in like manner as the
original
depositions.
(5) The confirmation of an order made under this section
shall not affect any power of a court to vary or rescind that
order:
Provided that on the making of a varying or rescinding order the
court shall send a certified copy thereof to the Governor-General
for
transmission to the Secretary of State, and that, in the case of an order
varying the original order, the order shall not have
any effect unless and until
confirmed in like manner as the original order.
(6) The applicant shall
have the same right of appeal, if any, against a refusal to make a provisional
order as he would have had
against a refusal to make the order had a summons
been duly served on the person against whom the order is sought to be
made.
Court may confirm maintenance
order made in England or Ireland
6. (1) When a maintenance order
has been made by a court in England or Ireland and the order is provisional only
and has no effect
unless and until confirmed by a court in Fiji, and a certified
copy of the order together with the depositions of witnesses and a
statement of
the grounds on which the order might have been opposed has been transmitted to
the Governor-General, and it appears
to the Governor-General that the person
against whom the order was made is resident in Fiji, the Governor-General may
send the said
documents to the prescribed officer of a court with a requisition
that a summons be issued calling upon the person to show cause
why that order
should not be confirmed and, upon receipt of such documents and requisition, the
court shall issue such a summons
and cause it to be served upon such
person.
(2) A summons so issued may be served in Fiji in the same manner
as if it had been originally issued or subsequently endorsed by a
magistrates'
court having jurisdiction in the place where the person happens to
be.
(3) At the hearing it shall be open to the person on whom the summons
was served to raise any defence which he might have raised in
the original
proceedings had he been a party thereto but no other defence, and the
certificate from the court which made the provisional
order stating the grounds
on which the making of the order might have been opposed if the person against
whom the order was made
had been a party to the proceedings shall be conclusive
evidence that those grounds are grounds on which objection may be
taken.
(4) If at the hearing the person served with the summons does not
appear or, on appearing, fails to satisfy the court that the order
ought not to
be confirmed, the court may confirm the order either without modification or
with such modification as to the court,
after hearing the evidence, may seem
just.
(5) If the person against whom the summons was issued appears at
the hearing and satisfies the court that for the purpose of any defence
it is
necessary to remit the case to the court which made the provisional order for
the taking of any further evidence, the court
may so remit the case and adjourn
the proceedings for the purpose.
(6) Where a provisional order has been
confirmed under this section it may be varied or rescinded in like manner as if
it had originally
been made by the confirming court, and where, on an
application for rescission or variation, the court is satisfied that it is
necessary
to remit the case to the court which made the order for the purpose of
taking any further evidence, the court may so remit the case
and adjourn the
proceedings for the purpose.
(7) Where an order has been so confirmed,
the person bound thereby shall have the same right of appeal, if any, against
the confirmation
of the order as he would have had against the making of the
order had the order been an order made by the court confirming the
order.
Regulations
7. The
Minister, with the advice and assistance of the Chief Justice, may make
regulations as to the manner in which a case can be
remitted by a court
authorised to confirm a provisional order to the court which made the
provisional order, and generally for facilitating
communications between such
courts.
Mode of enforcing
orders
8. (1) The court in which an order has been registered
under this Act or by which an order has been confirmed under this Act, and
the
officers of such court shall take all such steps for enforcing the order as may
be prescribed.
(Amended by 4 of 1932, s. 3.)
(2) Every such order shall be enforceable in like manner
as if the order were for the payment of a civil
debt.
Proof of documents signed by
officers of court
9. Any document purporting to be signed by a
judge or officer of a court in England or Ireland shall, until the contrary is
proved,
be deemed to have been so signed without proof of the signature or
judicial or official character of the person appearing to have
signed it, and
the officer of a court by whom a document is signed shall, until the contrary is
proved, be deemed to have been the
proper officer of the court to sign the
document.
Depositions to be
evidence
10. Depositions taken in a court in England or Ireland
for the purposes of this Act may be received in evidence in proceedings before
a
court under this Act.
Further extension
of Act by proclamation
11. Where the Governor-General is satisfied
that reciprocal provisions have been made by the legislature of any country or
territory
of the Commonwealth or any territory under Her Majesty's protection
for the enforcement within such country or territory of maintenance
orders made
by courts in Fiji, the Governor may, by proclamation, extend this Act to such
country or territory and this Act shall
thereupon apply in respect to such
country or territory as though the reference to England or Ireland were
references to such country
or territory and the references to the Secretary of
State were references to the Governor-General of such country or territory or
to
the person appointed under the law of such country or territory to receive and
transmit maintenance orders.
(Amended by 27 of 1929, s. 2, 22 of 1961, s.2, and 37 of 1966, s.l5.)
Controlled by Ministry of the Attorney-General
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