HC Deb 02 February 1948 vol 446 cc229-31W
84. Mr. Sorensen

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will give particulars of the joint arrangements between His Majesty's Government and the American and Canadian Governments respecting payment for wife maintenance and affiliation orders by servicemen; to what extent court orders respecting British cases will now become enforceable in the U.S.A. and Canada; and whether consideration will be given to the possibility of extending such an arrangement to cover British servicemen who have been involved with German and Austrian women.

Mr. McNeil

With regard to the United States, I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies given to similar Questions which were asked by him on 12th November and 1st December last, and also to the replies given to Questions on the same subject which were asked by the hon. and gallant Member for Macclesfield (Air-Commodore Harvey) on 19th November, and by my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Mr. Sharp) on 20th November.

I regret that, apart from cases where the man concerned is still in receipt of an apportionable allowance from a United States Government Department, it has not been possible to make any arrrangement with the United States Government in respect of payments by a United States serviceman or ex-serviceman for the maintenance of his dependents in this country. There are also no means by which maintenance or affiliation orders issued by a United Kingdom court can be enforced in the United States.

I am glad to say, however, that the arrangements whereby welfare organisations and other unofficial bodies in the United States assist in trying to induce United States servicemen and ex-servicemen to recognise their obligations to which reference was made in the reply to my hon. Friend's Question of 12th November, have been completed and are now in operation.

The position in Canada is as follows:

Arrangements for the mutual enforcement of maintenance orders have been made with the Provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan under the provisions of the Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act, 1920. This Act, however, expressly excludes affiliation orders, for the enforcement of which in Canada no arrangements exist, and in this connection I would again refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the Question which was asked by the hon. and gallant Member for Macclesfield on 19th November.

As regards British Servicemen who have been involved with German and Austrian women, I have nothing to add to the reply given by the then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 23rd October, 1946, to the hon. Member for Bucklow (Mr. Shepherd) in which it was explained that there was no facilities for legal proceedings in cases of this kind and that even if affiliation proceedings were possible no maintenance order of a German court, or indeed of any foreign court, could, under the Army Act be enforced against a British soldier.