Sherry-Ann McGregor, Contributor

Perhaps the most difficult task the recipient of a maintenance order must face is the prospect that the order cannot be enforced. In some cases, dependents do not even bother to approach the courts because the person they want to sue is not in Jamaica.

The Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act, may provide an answer to this dilemma. It allows for maintenance orders made in Jamaican courts to be enforced in some countries (referred to as 'reciprocating states' in the act).

Unfortunately, the list of reciprocating states does not include the United States of America or Canada. However, the United Kingdom and many Caribbean islands, such as The Bahamas, The Cayman Islands and Trinidad and Tobago, are included.

The act operates in the following manner:

If a Jamaican wishes to make an application for a maintenance order in the Resident Magistrate's Family or Supreme Court against someone who resides in a reciprocating state, the applicant may be able to proceed with the application in that person's absence. Evidence will be taken in the form of a deposition in writing, or recorded and transcribed before an order is made.

Once an order is made, the clerk of the Resident Magistrate's Family Court or the Registrar of the Supreme Court will certify the order and send it to the minister. The minister will then send the order through the appropriate channels to the relevant authority in the reciprocating state.

Further evidence

On receipt of the order, the reciprocating state may take further evidence before varying, rescinding or confirming the order. If the order is varied or confirmed by the reciprocating state, it can then be enforced in accordance with the laws of that state.

If a maintenance order is made in a reciprocating state, it may be enforced in Jamaica in the same way as an order made in Jamaica may be enforced there. For that reason, a Trinidadian against whom a maintenance order was made by the Court in Trinidad could find that he is called upon by a Jamaican bailiff to pay maintenance, pursuant to an order which was originally made by the Trinidadian Court.

The act does not indicate the time within which the minister is obliged to deliver the order to the reciprocating state; and this may raise a concern for an applicant who is desperate to have his or her order enforced. It would be helpful if some time period was prescribed for the minister to deliver a certified order to the reciprocating state.

This is one instance which justifies the statement that 'you can't escape the long arm of the law'.

Sherry-Ann McGregor is a partner and mediator with the firm Nunes, Scholefield, DeLeon & Co. Send feedback and questions to lawsofeve@yahoo.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.