The most senior family law judge in England and Wales has suggested that it may be time to consider removing the need for a judge to oversee cases where couples “divorce by consent”.
Sir James Murray said divorce could be handled by a registrar as a simple administrative issue, similar to registering a birth or death, suggesting that divorce by consent had effectively existed for the past thirty years.
Sir James argues that if both parties mutually agree to divorce and can establish the necessary grounds, the divorce is essentially an administrative process, although one which at present is conducted by a judge.
He also backed the inclusion of fault-free divorce, where neither party would have to take the legal blame for the breakdown of a marriage.
This follows comments from Sir Nicholas Wall, who in 2012 said couples should be allowed to divorce without having to blame one or the other.
Under current laws, a divorce will be granted by a judge if a person can prove that a marriage has irretrievably broken down – with the necessary reasons having to be satisfied.
Some lawyers have criticised the comments, suggesting changes may leave the system open to abuse and would allow couples to break up too easily.
The Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Board had previously advised on the implementation of the Family Act 1996, which made provision for no-fault divorce to be introduced in England and Wales, although the legislation was never fully implemented under the Blair government.
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed the government is not currently considering a change in the divorce process.