What is the thinking behind this provision for an interim order?
SECTION 6.
Question proposed : " That section 6 stand part of the Bill."
It is to deal with emergency situations, to deal with a family situation where there would be great hardship, where hardship has suddenly arisen or may have been there for some time. I am speaking in terms of the wife and husband. The wife may not be aware of her legal rights in the case of an immediate emergency or hardship or there may not be time to go through all the formalities of the application. This section is to enable her to go to court and the court can hear, in effect, one side of the story and make an interim order or they may hear both sides of the story and can still make an interim order without going into the case in the greatest detail. Therefore, the section is to deal with emergency situations. The Committee on Court Practice and Procedure recommended that, in such cases, payments might be made by a local authority on the direction of the court.
It is possible that when the case would come to be debated on fully it would be found that an order made was unjust so far as the other spouse was concerned. We must balance that situation against the immediate needs of the dependent spouse and children and we have decided that on balance we should attend to their situation rather than to the possibility of a husband having an order made against him that might not be just. In a case of a fraudulent application, the husband would have a right to recover whatever had been extracted from him unjustly but how good his right would be in practice is another day's work. But he would have a right in law to recover on the basis that the money was paid as a result of fraud, and also probably on the basis of quasi contract.
In other words, an interim order. It will be based on the idea that the court might make an order for, say, four weeks with a return date to deal with substantial matters.
Yes, that would be the general purpose.
In other words it is like a provision for injunctions in emergency situations?
Yes.
May I suggest to the Minister that in order to avoid the types of injustices referred to a time limit should be put on the order?
It appears clear from the words of the section that it is only available for a very definite period as specified in the order and until such time as the application is adjudicated on by the court. We must leave to the discretion of the courts the question of a time limit. The courts would have regard to the fact that it was an interim emergency situation.
Question put and agreed to.