Amy Fox welcomes clarity on the power to stay divorce proceedings in cases involving non-contracting / third states
In 2009, four years after the judgment in Owusu v Jackson [2005] QB 801, [2005] 2 All ER (Comm) 577, HHJ Ian Karsten QC observed: “The time cannot be far off when an English judge will have to decide what the effect of Owusu is upon the power to stay divorce proceedings under the 1973 Act” (The State of International Family Law Issues: A View From London [2009] IFL 35). Four years later, the case of Mittal v Mittal [2013] EWCA Civ 1255, [2013] All ER (D) 200 (Oct) has finally forced such a decision to be made.
Mittal v Mittal
Mittal concerned a husband and wife, both Indian nationals, who were married in India in 2003. In 2004, their only daughter was born in India. They lived together in India until October 2006 when the husband moved to England. In February 2007, the wife and daughter joined the husband in England. They separated in September 2009.
