Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Rules
[31 January 1979]
(Format changes—E.R. 4 of 2019)
These rules may be cited as the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Rules.
(Repealed L.N. 127 of 1982)
An application under section 4 of the Ordinance (transmission of maintenance order made in Hong Kong for enforcement in a reciprocating country) may be made in writing by or on behalf of the payee under the order.
Any application made in pursuance of paragraph (1) shall—
specify the date on which the order was made;
contain such particulars as are known to the applicant of the whereabouts of the payer;
specify any matters likely to assist in the identification of the payer;
where possible, be accompanied by a recent photograph of the payer.
A document setting out or summarizing any evidence required by section 5(5)(b), 6(4) or 10(5) of the Ordinance (provisional orders) to be authenticated shall be authenticated by a certificate, signed by the judge before whom that evidence was given, that the document is the original document containing or recording or, as the case may be, summarizing that evidence or a true copy of that document.
Any documents required by section 6(4) or 10(5) of the Ordinance to be sent to a court in a reciprocating country shall be sent to that court by post.
For the purposes of compliance with section 6(9) of the Ordinance (revocation by Hong Kong court of provisional order) there shall be served on the person on whose application the maintenance order was made a notice which shall—
set out the evidence received or taken, as the case may be, in pursuance of that subsection;
inform that person that it appears to the court that the maintenance order ought not to have been made; and
inform that person that if he wishes to make representations with respect to the evidence set out in the notice he may do so orally or in writing and that if he wishes to adduce further evidence he should notify the Registrar.
Where the Registrar receives notification that the person on whose application the maintenance order was made wishes to adduce further evidence, he shall fix a date for the hearing of such evidence and shall send that person written notice of the date fixed.
Where a certified copy of an order, not being a provisional order, is received by the Registrar of the District Court for registration in accordance with the Ordinance, he shall cause the order to be registered by means of a minute or memorandum entered and signed by him in a register kept by him for this purpose. (L.N. 127 of 1982)
Where the District Court makes or confirms an order which is required under section 8(5) or 10(10) of the Ordinance to be registered, the Registrar shall enter and sign a minute or memorandum thereof in his register. (L.N. 127 of 1982)
Every minute or memorandum entered in pursuance of paragraph (1) or (2) shall specify the section of the Ordinance under which the order in question is registered.
Payment of sums due under a registered order shall, while the order is registered in the District Court, be made to the Registrar during such hours and at such place as he may direct; and the Registrar shall send those payments by post to the court which made the order or to such other person or authority as that court or the Chief Executive may from time to time direct. (L.N. 127 of 1982; 27 of 1999 s. 3)
Where it appears to the Registrar to whom payments under any maintenance order are made by virtue of paragraph (1) that any sums payable under the order are in arrear he may and, if such sums are in arrear to an amount equal to four times the sum payable weekly under the order, he shall, whether the person for whose benefit the payment should have been made requests him to do so or not, proceed in his office and title of Registrar for the recovery of those sums, unless it appears to him that it is unreasonable in the circumstances to do so.
Where a request is made by or on behalf of a court in a reciprocating country for the taking in Hong Kong of the evidence of a person residing therein then, subject to paragraph (2)—
the evidence shall be taken in the same manner as if that person were a witness in proceedings on a summons;
any oral evidence so taken shall be put into writing and read to the person who gave it, who shall be required to sign the document; and
the judge by whom the evidence of any person is so taken shall certify at the foot of any document setting out the evidence of, or produced in evidence by, that person that such evidence was taken, or document received in evidence, as the case may be, by him.
Where such a request as is mentioned in paragraph (1) includes a request that the evidence be taken in a particular manner, the judge by whom the evidence is taken shall, so far as circumstances permit, comply with that request.
Any document such as is mentioned in paragraph (1)(c) shall be sent to the court in the reciprocating country by or on behalf of which the request was made.
Where a court in Hong Kong makes an order, not being a provisional order, varying a maintenance order to which section 6 of the Ordinance (variation and revocation of maintenance order made in Hong Kong) applies the Registrar shall send written notice of the making of the order to the Chief Executive; and where the order is made by virtue of paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (3) of that section, he shall send such written notice to the court in a reciprocating country which would, if the order had been a provisional order, have had power to confirm the order. (27 of 1999 s. 3)
Where a court in Hong Kong revokes a maintenance order to which section 6 of the Ordinance applies, the Registrar shall send written notice of the revocation to the Chief Executive and to the court in a reciprocating country which has power to confirm that maintenance order, or by which the order has been confirmed, or in which the order is registered for enforcement, as the case may be. (27 of 1999 s. 3)
Where under section 10 of the Ordinance (variation and revocation of maintenance order registered in the District Court in Hong Kong) the District Court makes an order, not being a provisional order, varying or revoking a registered order, the Registrar shall send written notice of the making of the order to the court in a reciprocating country which made the registered order.
Where under section 8(2) of the Ordinance (confirmation by District Court of a provisional maintenance order made in a reciprocating country) the District Court confirms an order to which section 8 of the Ordinance applies, the Registrar shall send written notice of the confirmation to the court in a reciprocating country which made the order.
Where the Registrar of the District Court— (L.N. 127 of 1982)
registers under section 7(3) of the Ordinance (registration in Hong Kong of a maintenance order made in a reciprocating country) an order to which section 7 applies; or
registers under section 8(5) of the Ordinance an order which has been confirmed in pursuance of section 8(2) of the Ordinance,
he shall send written notice to the Chief Executive that the order has been duly registered. (27 of 1999 s. 3)
(Repealed L.N. 127 of 1982)
Where the Registrar of the District Court registers a maintenance order under section 7(3), 8(5) or 10(10) of the Ordinance, he shall send to the payer under the order written notice stating—
that the order has been duly registered;
that sums due under the order should be paid to the Registrar; and
the hours during which and the place at which such payments should be made.
Where the Registrar of the District Court cancels the registration of a maintenance order under section 11(1) of the Ordinance (cancellation of registration of order) he shall send written notice of the cancellation to the payer under the order.
The Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Rules (Cap. 15 sub. leg. 1969 Ed.) are revoked, but shall continue to apply to such extent as may be necessary for giving effect to the savings and transitional provisions in the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 188).