The Isle of Man is situated in the centre of the British Isles. It is not a part of the United Kingdom and is an internally self governing dependent territory.
As a Crown Dependency the ultimate responsibility for the Government of the Isle of Man is vested in the Crown. By long standing convention the UK Government does not legislate for the Island expect with specific consent of the Island’s Government. The Island has a special relationship with the European Union but is not within the European Union. Consequently the Isle of Man is a separate signatory to some significant legislative conventions but one should not automatically assume that an International Convention will apply. These issues occur frequently in matrimonial or trusts cases particularly, where there may be assets in a number of jurisdictions. It must not be assumed that an Order obtained in one jurisdiction may be enforced in another.
Useful information tools for Manx Law and Procedure are:
http://www.courts.im/
http://www.judgments.im/content/Home.mth
1. The Manx Courts jurisdiction to make an Order for Ancillary Relief depends on the grant of a Decree in the main suit, i.e. the divorce proceedings.
The usual provisions as are applicable under English law then follow for Orders for general financial provision including transfer of property, lump sum and pension sharing. We have similar provisions for claims outside the jurisdiction as in England (i.e. part III of the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1984) but for enforcement within the British Isles, section 117 of the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 2003 of the Isle of Man is the relevant provision.
Enforcement of UK Orders in the Isle of Man
2. Part 4 of the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 2003 deals with financial relief after a foreign divorce. It provides that where a marriage has been dissolved in a “foreign country”, either party to the marriage may under appropriate circumstances apply to the Isle of Man High Court for financial relief, including a Pension Sharing Order (section 83). However, the interpretation section provides that, for the purposes of Part 4, “foreign country” means a country or territory outside the British Islands”. This means that parties to a marriage dissolved in the United Kingdom or the Channel Islands cannot seek relief in the Isle of Man under this Part.
3. Part 6 of the Isle of Man’s Matrimonial Proceedings Act 2003 deals with reciprocal enforcement in the Isle of Man of certain financial orders on divorce made in any part of the United Kingdom or the Channel Islands but requires a “Designation Order” to be made recognising a reciprocal arrangement with those other jurisdictions.
4. Despite the provisions of section 117 of the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 2003 an Order of the English Court cannot be enforced in the Isle of Man as the necessary Designation Order has not been made in any of the jurisdictions concerned. A capital Financial Provision Order likewise cannot be enforced in the Isle of Man as the Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1968 of the Isle of Man specifically excludes matrimonial judgments.
At present the only means of enforcing a capital award is by using Money Order as the basis of a Claim in the Isle of Man and obtaining judgment and execution to enforce against the asset. (see VAG UK v Davis ( 1996-98 MLR252)
Enforcement of Manx Order in the UK
5. Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 of England provides generally for the English Courts to exercise jurisdiction in ancillary matters after an “overseas” decree of divorce. Section 27 of that Act defines overseas country as ““overseas country” means a country or territory outside the British Islands.”.
The British Islands are defined in the Interpretation Act 1978 of England as “British Islands means the United Kingdom the Channel Islands and The Isle of Man”. Consequently, whilst it appears to be anomalous it is not possible for a person having divorced in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands to utilise the provisions of Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 to seek ancillary relief in England.
6. This is an error or lacuna in the law and it was surely not the intention of Parliament that persons divorcing in the Isle of Man should be precluded from the provisions of Part III. However, suffice to say it is the case that a Manx Order for capital provision cannot be enforced in England under Part III of the Act as the Isle of Man does not fall within the definition of “overseas country”.
7. Accordingly it is not possible for an Applicant to utilise the offices of the English Court system to make financial provision for her under matrimonial legislation if the divorce proceedings commenced in the Isle of Man, notwithstanding that both Applicant and the Respondent both later reside in England or that the former matrimonial home and only property is also in England.
8. There a number of alternative or complementary proceedings which would provide a means of enforcement of an order made in the Isle of Man in England:
o the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972 provides for the registration of a maintenance order made in a reciprocating country for enforcement(s6 attached hereto). S21 of that Act defines a maintenance order as “ an Order for payment of a lump sum or the making of periodical payments towards the maintenance of any person”
o the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement ) Act 1933 provides for the reciprocal enforcement of a fixed sum judgment from a reciprocating country. The Isle of Man is a Reciprocating country and a lump sum order could be enforced by this means if there were not an exclusion for Matrimonial Orders. It would not be possible to make a property adjustment order which could be enforced in England.
The present anomalous situation creates particular difficulties for pension sharing orders. Pensions may be transferred by agreement between the jurisdictions but if this were to have a detrimental effect on the pensioner it is likely agreement would not be reached and thus a pension sharing order could not be made.
With regard to Trusts in the Isle of Man the usual course of action might be to join trustees into separate proceedings in the Isle of Man. This could and has resulted in expensive subsidiary litigation which diverts attention from the family proceedings and will as in England often follow different principles to those in family law.
All in all, the message must be not to assume that an Order made in one jurisdiction can be enforced without problem in another. Always consult a lawyer in the jurisdiction where the asset is located BEFORE an Order is made to ensure it can be implemented.