The Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (Republic of Ireland) Order 1993

4.—(1) Section 4 shall be amended as follows.

(2) For subsection (1) there shall be substituted the following subsections—

“(1) The sheriff shall have jurisdiction in any action to which this section applies if—

(a)the pursuer resides within the jurisdiction of the sheriff;

(b)the sheriff is satisfied that, to the best of the information or belief of the pursuer, the defender is residing in the Republic of Ireland; and

(c)the sheriff would not, apart from this subsection, have jurisdiction in that action.

(2) This section applies to any action for the payment, variation or revocation of aliment which is competent in the sheriff court, and includes an action of affiliation and aliment, but does not include an action of separation and aliment or adherence and aliment, or any action containing a crave for the custody of a child.”.

(3) In subsection (3), for the words “referred to in” there shall be substituted “in which the sheriff has jurisdiction by virtue of”.

(4) For subsection (4) there shall be substituted—

“(4) In any action referred to in subsection (1) above, no decree shall be granted in favour of the pursuer unless—

(a)a copy of the initial writ or summons together with a copy of the warrant for citation has been sent to the responsible authority in the Republic of Ireland for service on the defender; and

(b)a copy of the initial writ or summons has been served on the defender in accordance with the law for the service of such documents in the Republic of Ireland and in sufficient time to enable him to arrange for his defence; and

(c)the grounds of action have been substantiated by sufficient evidence, and section 36(3) of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971(1) shall not apply in relation to any such action which is a summary cause.”.

(5) Subsections (5) and (6) shall be omitted.