(1) Where an application is made to a district court in Saint Lucia for a maintenance order against any person, and it is proved that that person is resident in England or Ireland, the court may, in the absence of that person, if after hearing the evidence it is satisfied of the justice of the application, make any such order as it might have made if a summons had been duly served on that person and he or she had failed to appear at the hearing, but in such case the order is provisional only, and has no effect unless and until confirmed by a competent court in England or Ireland.