Tuvalu Island Courts Bench Book - Federal Court of Australia

Conciliation
Is an attempt to reconcile the parties likely to succeed?
Are there special reasons why a divorce should be granted immediately?
Unless the Court certifies that no attempt to reconcile the parties is likely to succeed or there are special
reasons for an immediate divorce, it must adjourn the proceedings for at least 3 months in order to allow the
parties to settle their differences.
Orders
You may grant a divorce order and any other orders relating to custody, maintenance and property.
Right of appeal
3.8 Rights of Appeal
A right of appeal can be exercised by either party. This will be rare, as proceedings in the Island
Court are only by consent.
4 Custody of Children
The Island Court may hear custody disputes under the Matrimonial Proceedings Act (Cap 21) or
under the Custody of Children Act (Cap 20).
Definition of child
Although the Matrimonial Proceedings Act (Cap 21) does not define who is a child for the
purposes of maintenance or custody, in Kesia Martin v Graeme Leigh Martin Case No. 2/03, the
Chief Justice defined “child” as anyone under the age of 18 years. This means that custody
orders are only to be made for a child under the age of 18 years.
Birth certificates should be provided as evidence of the age of the children. If a birth certificate
cannot be provided, the petitioner must ask the court for leave to proceed without it. Leave
should only be granted when there is sufficient reason.
4.1 The Matrimonial Proceedings Act (Cap 21)
The Matrimonial Proceedings Act sets out how the Court should deal with the custody of
children and related matters in the case of divorce. See above at 3.5.
Tuvalu Island Courts Bench Book June 2004