Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 22.pdf/227

 The Divorce Situation in England By E. DEFORBST Luca [Many English lawyers and judges realize that the divorce laws of Eng land are anything but satisfactory. Lord Gorell, who, as Sir Gorell Barnes, had much experience with divorce litigation on the bench of the High Court of Justice, is presiding over a Royal Commission now at work, which is the outcome of his motion in the House of Lords last July, “That it is expedient that jurisdiction to a limited extent in matrimonial muses should be conferred upon County Courts in order that the poorer classes may have their cases of that nature heard and determined in such Courts." The new commission is making a comprehensive study of the whole subject, and will report on desirable changes in the law of divorce. While its com position appears to be somewhat diversiﬁed, including, as it does, distin guished representatives of the church and laity (women as well as men), the law (Scottish as well as English), and the press, still the result may be rec ommendations leading to the correction of some of the unfortunate con ditions outlined in the following article-Ed]

HE divorce problem is receiving more serious consideration among all classes of people in England to-day

than in any other country. In the United States the agitation is kept up by sporadic attacks upon our di vorce legislation by ecclesiastical gather

ings and the occasional ex cathedra utter ances of some High Church dignitary, while the ordinary citizen seems to be quite well satisﬁeld to let matters remain as they are.

In England, however, the

conditions are reversed. There the mass of the people are very much in earnest in demanding more equitable and hu manitarian laws for dissolution of the marriage contract, while the Church

party, on the other hand, appears to be quite unconcerned over the whole mat ter. The agitation, nevertheless, is as suming a character which will soon compel all parties to place themselves

upon record on this question. A mere glance at their present statute

will at once cause every American to

now believe ought to be amended.

Al

though it must be admitted that the existing Act is more suitable to a civil ized society than its immediate prede cessor, its inequality and unreasonable ness cannot help but foster immorality and an increasing disregard for the

sanctity of lawful marriage. It seems almost incredible that Prot estant England should continue to re main subject to the Roman Catholic idea of marriage after the Reformation, and even down to the year 1857. Dur ing this period the Ecclesiastical Courts granted large numbers of divorces a mensa et thoro, which was the Roman

Catholic decree for separation, and by a cunning evasion of the spirit of the law, which later grew up, those who could afford it and had suﬁicient in fluence in Parliament, might use this

decree as a ﬁrst step in a series towards obtaining an absolute divorce.

After

the decree mensa et thoro in the Eccle

could possibly be made to live for more

siastical Courts, the plaintiff had to bring an action for damages against the adulterer in the Civil Courts, and if

than half a century under a law which the majority of our English cousins

he was successful there he might in stitute proceedings in the House of

wonder how any liberty-loving people