### Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance 《贍養令(交互強制執行)條例》

4. Transmission of maintenance order made in Hong Kong for enforcement in reciprocating country
(1) Subject to subsection (2), where the payer under a maintenance order made, whether before or after the commencement* of this Ordinance, by a court in Hong Kong is residing in a reciprocating country, the payee under the order may apply for the order to be sent to that reciprocating country for enforcement. (Amended 61 of 1981 s. 6; 27 of 1999 s. 3)
(2) Subsection (1) shall not have effect in relation to a provisional order.
(3) Every application under this section shall be made in the prescribed manner to the Registrar of the court which made the order. (Amended 61 of 1981 s. 6)
(4) If, on an application duly made under this section to the Registrar, the Registrar is satisfied that the payer under the maintenance order to which the application relates is residing in a reciprocating country, the following documents—
(a) a certified copy of the maintenance order;
(b) a certificate, signed by the Registrar, certifying that the order is enforceable in Hong Kong;
(c) a certificate of arrears, so signed;
(d) a statement giving such information as the Registrar possesses as to the whereabouts of the payer;
(e) a statement giving such information as the Registrar possesses for facilitating the identification of the payer; and
(f) where available, a photograph of the payer,
shall be sent by the Registrar to the Chief Executive with a view to their being transmitted by the Chief Executive to the responsible authority in the reciprocating country if the Chief Executive is satisfied that the statement relating to the whereabouts of the payer gives sufficient information to justify that being done. (Amended 27 of 1999 s. 3)
(5) Nothing in this section shall be taken as affecting any jurisdiction of a court in Hong Kong with respect to a maintenance order to which this section applies, and any such order may be enforced, varied or revoked accordingly. (Amended 61 of 1981 s. 6)
[cf. 1972 c. 18 s. 2 U.K.] Editorial Note:
* Commencement date: 31 January 1979.

### Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance 《贍養令(交互強制執行)條例》

16. Order etc. made abroad need not be proved
For the purposes of this Ordinance, unless the contrary is shown—
(a) any order made by a court in a reciprocating country purporting to bear the seal of that court or to be signed by any person in his capacity as a judge, magistrate or officer of the court shall be deemed without further proof to have been duly sealed or, as the case may be, to have been signed by that person;
(b) the person by whom the order was signed shall be deemed without further proof to have been a judge, magistrate or officer, as the case may be, of that court when he signed it and, in the case of an officer, to have been authorized to sign it; and
(c) a document purporting to be a certified copy of an order made by a court in a reciprocating country shall be deemed without further proof to be such a copy.
[cf. 1972 c.18 s. 15 U.K.]

### Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance 《贍養令(交互強制執行)條例》

17. Payment of sums under order made abroad: conversion of currency
(1) Payment of sums due under a registered order shall, while the order is registered in the District Court, be made in such manner and to such person as may be prescribed.
(2) Where the sums required to be paid under a registered order are expressed in a currency other than the currency of Hong Kong, then, as from the relevant date, the order shall be treated as if it were an order requiring the payment of such sums in the currency of Hong Kong as, on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing at that date, are equivalent to the sums so required to be paid.
(3) Where the sum specified in any statement, being a statement of the amount of any arrears due under a maintenance order made by a court in a reciprocating country, is expressed in a currency other than the currency of Hong Kong, that sum shall be deemed to be such sum in the currency of Hong Kong as, on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing at the relevant date, is equivalent to the sum so specified.
(4) For the purposes of this section, a written certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of any bank in Hong Kong certifying that a specified rate of exchange prevailed between currencies at a specified date and that at such rate a specified sum in the currency of Hong Kong is equivalent to a specified sum in another specified currency shall be evidence of the rate of exchange so prevailing on that date and of the equivalent sums in terms of the respective currencies. (Amended E.R. 1 of 2020)
(5) In this section, the relevant date (有關日期) means— (Amended E.R. 1 of 2020)
(a) in relation to a registered order or to a statement of arrears due under a maintenance order made by a court in a reciprocating country, the date on which the order first becomes a registered order or (if earlier) the date on which it is confirmed by the District Court;
(b) in relation to a registered order which has been varied, the date on which the last order varying that order is registered in the District Court or (if earlier) the date on which the last order varying that order is confirmed by the District Court.
[cf. 1972 c. 18 s. 16 U.K.]

### Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance 《贍養令(交互強制執行)條例》

18. Absence of respondent
Where the respondent to an application for the variation or revocation—
(a) of a maintenance order made by a court in Hong Kong, being an order to which section 6 applies; or (Amended 61 of 1981 s. 6)
(b) of a registered order,
does not appear at the time and place appointed for the hearing of the application, but the court is satisfied that the respondent is residing in a reciprocating country, the court may proceed to hear and determine the application at the time and place appointed for the hearing or for any adjourned hearing in like manner as if the respondent had appeared at that time and place.
[cf. 1972 c. 18 s. 17(7) U.K.]

19. Power to make rules
The Chief Justice may make rules for the better carrying out of the purposes and provisions of this Ordinance and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, may make rules providing for all or any of the following matters—
(a) the orders made, or other things done, by a court in Hong Kong, or the Registrar, under this Ordinance, or by a court in a reciprocating country, notice of which is to be given to such person as the rules may provide and the manner in which notice shall be given;
(b) the cases and manner in which courts in reciprocating countries are to be informed of orders made, or other things done, by a court in Hong Kong under this Ordinance;
(c) the circumstances and manner in which cases may be remitted by a court in Hong Kong to courts in reciprocating countries;
(d) the circumstances and manner in which a court in Hong Kong may for the purposes of this Ordinance communicate with courts in reciprocating countries.
(Amended 61 of 1981 s. 6) [cf. 1972 c. 18 s. 18(1) U.K.]