Divorce

Divorce, the judicial dissolution of the marriage tie. It may be obtained at the instance of either husband or wife; but they are not upon an equal footing as to the grounds upon which it will be granted, for in the case of the husband seeking divorce it is grantable to him on his proving the adultery of his wife only, whereas in the case of the wife she must not only prove adultery hut also cruelty or desertion for two years, or incestuous or bigamous adultery, or an unnatural offence, against her husband. The proceedings for a divorce are commenced by a petition addressed to the President of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice. The rules and orders issued under the Judicature Acts do not apply to divorce proceedings or to proceedings for a judicial separation, and the practice in these matters is the same as it was under the old Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes. Every person petitioning for a divorce must set forth concisely-the particulars of his or her case and the alleged conduct of the respondent or respondents in detail, and the petition must be accompanied by an affidavit verifying the facts therein alleged so far as they are within the petitioner's personal knowledge, and stating that there is no collusion or connivance between the deponent and the other party to the marriage.

And on a petition for divorce presented by a husband, he must, unless excused by the Court on special grounds, make the alleged adulterer a corespondent. It is also required that every petition shall be served on the party to be affected thereby, and after such service the next step is to issue a citation which, as a rule, must be personally served, and is in effect a writ of summons to the respondent or co-respondent, subject to the rules specially promulgated for proceedings in the Divorce Court. An appearance is then entered by the respondent or respondents, after which the answer, verified by affidavit, is filed in the Registry and, if necessary, further pleadings take place between the parties. With reference to the trial the judge will himself, on application, as soon as the pleadings are ended, direct whether the action shall be tried by a jury or before the Court itself, and whether by oral evidence or by affidavit; but in case of divorce the trial must be in open Court and not in camera, and either party may insist on a jury, whose intervention also is necessary in all cases in which damages require to be assessed against an adulterer. [Adultery, Judicial Separation.]