Courts Act, 1981

Jurisdiction under Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964.

15.—(1) The Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following section for section 5:

“5.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the jurisdiction conferred on a court by this Part may be exercised by the Circuit Court or the District Court.

(2) The District Court and the Circuit Court, on appeal from the District Court, shall not have jurisdiction to make an order under this Act for the payment of a periodical sum at a rate greater than £30 per week towards the maintenance of an infant.

(3) The jurisdiction conferred by this Part is in addition to any other jurisdiction to appoint or remove guardians or as to the wardship of infants or the care of infants' estates.”,

(b) by the substitution in section 13 of the following definition for the definition of “the court”:

“‘the court’ means the Circuit Court or the District Court;”, and

(c) by the substitution in section 18 (1) of “Circuit Court” for “court”.

(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, nothing in the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 , as amended by subsection (1) of this section, shall be construed as conferring on the District Court jurisdiction to make an order under Part II or III of that Act in relation to which the High Court or the Circuit Court (except on appeal from the District Court) has made an order under the said Part II or the said Part III.

(b) Subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, nothing in the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 , as amended by subsection (1) of this section, shall be construed as conferring on the Circuit Court jurisdiction to make an order under Part II or III of that Act in relation to which the High Court has made an order under the said Part II or the said Part III.

(c) The District Court and the Circuit Court may vary or revoke an order made by the High Court under the said Part II or the said Part III before the commencement of this section if—

(i) the circumstances to which the order of the High Court related have changed other than by reason of such commencement, and

(ii) in the case of a variation or revocation of such an order by the District Court, the provisions of the order would have been within the jurisdiction of that Court if this section had been in operation at the time of the making of the order.