A Short History Of UK Divorce Law Inside The 20th Century

Izvor: KiWi

UK divorce law has created more than the course with the 20th century. The initial pressure for reform came within the first decade in the century as the divorce law inside the UK at the time was complicated and expensive for many men and women. It meant that divorce was only a legal recourse for the wealthy and properly connected. Until the middle of 19th century the only solution to get divorced was via an act of Parliament and there had been only 317 divorces in over 150 years.

Females were also useful link considerably more restricted and disadvantaged by the law and there were quite a few trapped in unhappy marriages. There was concern about the higher amount of couples 'living in sin' owing for the difficulties and charges involved in getting divorce.

A Royal commission was set up to look into these challenges and to reform the Victorian divorce law and to streamline the course of action. The Royal commission suggested that the divorce approach needs to be simplified, streamlined and be far less costly.

The advent on the First World War plus the enhanced position of ladies added additional stress for divorce and family law reform.

A Private Member's Bill was introduced in June 1923. This bill led to the Matrimonial Causes Act produced adultery by either husband or wife the sole ground for divorce. A wife no longer had to prove added faults against the husband. The Matrimonial Causes Act which stated that inside the occasion of a divorce, both partners would be treated equally.

In 1937 the law was amended once again and now 3 other grounds for divorce have been added. The private members bill introduced was introduced by A P Herbert. The new ground for divorce that had been added to that of adultery were cruelty, desertion (for no less than three years), and incurable insanity. Having said that people have been unable to divorce inside the first 3 years of their marriage as this clause was integrated within part of the act.

Until the law changed once again in 1969 it was impossible for any "guilty" spouse to divorce an "innocent" partner. As long as the innocent husband or wife took care to not be caught in adultery, he or she could correctly block the other's divorce and remarriage. The fact that quite a few marriages broke down on little troubles was not reflected in the divorce law.

The Law Commission looked at these problems in the 1960 and reported in 1966. The aim was to update the law and get rid of the emphasis on marital offence as the basis of a divorce. When it was introduced in 1971, The Divorce Reform act made it considerably less difficult to get a couple to escape a marriage. The Act created the so-called "quickie divorce" and introduced the principle of 'irretrievable breakdown' as grounds for separation and in the end divorce.

The act also shifted the places of your divorce hearing from the Higher Court to the County Court while initial allegations nevertheless had to be proved in court. This meant that in open court hearings evidence had to become provided by the party issuing the divorce proceedings. Defended divorces still had to be heard in the high court.

A series of "special procedure" had been introduced in between 1971 and 1977 that permitted for any judge of rule around the divorce method by means of the papers and affidavits provided. Neither of the parties needed to attend plus the only open part of the divorce was the problem of your degree. These special procedures have now come to be the norm in divorces in the UK.

The 1971 act is still the basis of divorce and family law in the UK along with the existing government has announced plans to review the existing law to determine if it reflects the needs of society forty years because the law was final amended.