Civil way: 28 June 2019

‘My dear Parliamentary Counsel,

Further to my instructions published in the New Law Journal for 19 and 26 April 2019 (‘Civil way’, p17), you’ve done a magnificent job with the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill which was due to receive its second reading on 25 June 2019. Not sure about the title, though. I think The Great Escape might be better. I know I suggested an irrebuttable presumption of irretrievable breakdown but I was jesting. A statement by one of both the parties that the marriage or civil partnership has irretrievably broken is to be taken as conclusive evidence that this is so, may be going too far. Expect trouble. We need to squeeze into the primary legislation savings for fraud, coercion, mistake, lack of a dictionary to check the meaning of ‘irretrievably’ situations, don’t you think?

And thanks for the new s 10 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and s 48 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 on special protection for the respondent. This would mean