NEW DIVORCE LAW.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 February 1921, Page 4

NEW DIVORCE LAW.

IMPORTANT CHANGE IS DIVORCE MORE EASY? JUDGE’S INTERESTING COMMENT By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, Feb. 2H. The fact that a divorce petitioner need' only prove that by mutual consent husband and *wife have parted and have been apart for three years is sufficient ground in the discretion of the Court for divorce, was the subject of comment by Mr. Justice Stringer in the Supreme Court to-day. Mr. Dickson drew His Honour’s attention to two cases about to be heard in which separation by mutual consent was the ground of petition, and he said that as the proceedings were under the amending Act of 1920, and as there was likely to be a considerable number of cases, members of the Bar would be glad to have a ruling as to what evidence would be considered necessary. His Honour said he proposed following the course adopted by Mr. Justice Sim, who was an authority upon divorce law, namely to grant decrees nisi, but to provide that a decree absolute must be moved, so that any party who desired to oppose it would have an opportunity of so doing. “This Divorce Act amendment” said His Honor at a later stage, “certainly seems to have made the obtaining of divorce an extremely simple matter. Now, apparently, all people have to tlo is to agree to live separate and apart for three years and then apparently they can get divorced.” Mr. Singer: “There is discretion, it seems to me.” His Honor: ‘Yes, there is discretion. I suppose moralists would disagree as to whether or not this was legislation which was in the interests of the community, but Judges have only to administer the law as they find it.”