“No-fault” divorce undermines marriage
by Jamie Gillies, The Critic:
From Wednesday 6 April, “no-fault” divorces will be allowed in England and Wales. Under new legislation, brought forward by the “Conservative” Government in 2020, a person will be able to simply walk away from their marriage, no reason given. Unilateral divorce on demand. Voices are now calling for this change to be rolled out across the whole of the British isles.
The significance of this legal and cultural change cannot be overstated. Under the previous law, a person wishing to divorce their spouse had to establish one of five “facts” to show the marriage had broken down irretrievably. Three of these were fault-based: adultery, unreasonable behaviour, or desertion. A divorce on these grounds typically took twelve months. Two were based on separation: for 2 years if spouses agreed to divorce, and 5 years if not. All of this is now gone.
The only remaining hurdle to divorce is a mandatory 20-week “reflection period”. The clock starts ticking as soon as the divorce petition is issued. A “conditional order” is then applied for replacing the decree nisi. Six weeks later, a “final order” can be applied for instead of a decree absolute. From start to finish, divorces under the new system can be completed in six months — even less if the court wishes. The chances of a couple resolving their difficulties in this accelerated time frame are slim.
This new law may become more permissive still. The no-fault divorce legislation agreed by parliament gave the Government Henry VIII powers to reduce the time period involved in divorce law by secondary legislation, effectively bypassing proper parliamentary scrutiny — but only to make it shorter. Changes to procedures combined with easier online divorce is predicted to speed things up anyway, whether these powers are invoked to reduce the time period in law or not.
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