MAINTENANCE ORDERS ACT
1921
An Act to facilitate the enforcement in Nigeria of maintenance orders made in England or Ireland and vice versa. [1921 No.8. 1929 No. 18.] [23rd June, 1921] [Commencement.]
| 1. This Act may be cited as the Maintenance Orders Act. | Short title. |
| 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires- “dependants” means such persons as any other person is, according to the law in force in England and Ireland, if the order is made in England or Ireland, or in Nigeria, if the order is made in Nigeria, liable to maintain; “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, and in respect of Ireland, includes an order or decree for the recovery or repayment of the cost of relief or maintenance made by virtue of the provisions of the Poor Relief (Ireland) Acts, 1839 to 1914; “prescribed” means prescribed by any rules made under this Act. | Interpretation. |
| 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 President, the President shall send a copy to the prescribed officer of a court in Nigeria 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 has 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 shall, if the court by which the order was made was a court of superior jurisdiction, be a High Court, and, if the court was not a court of superior jurisdiction, be a court of a magistrate. [L.N. 47 of 1955.] |
Enforcement in Nigeria of maintenance orders made in England and Ireland. |
| 4. Where a court in Nigeria 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 President, for transmission to the Secretary of State a certified copy of the order. | Transmission of maintenance orders made in Nigeria. |
| 5. (1) Where an application is made to court in Nigeria 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. |
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