Week 1 - Intro and Divorce

What is the main statute governing the law relating to divorce?

Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020

Which of the following is not a definition of the family as described by Jonathan Herring, in his text book "Family Law"?

Which of the following does the state not dictate in relation to our intimate relationships?

Whether or not a marriage of civil partnership must be pre-ceeded by a period of engagement

In what year did English case law make it clear that it was against the law for a man to rape his wife?

1991

Using Hansard, find the Money Resolution/Second Reading of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 on 8th June 2020. In that debate, who said this?: "Let us remember that the evolution of divorce law has involved significant moments in parliamentary history: there was the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 and the Divorce Reform Act 1969, which of course led to the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, which brought together a lot of the legislation on such issues. These things are not done, and I do not think they should be done, from Parliament to Parliament; they should have a longer shelf life, bearing in mind the gradual evolution of the law in this area."

The Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland MP

What did the Romans allow in their family law which did not become a right in England and Wales until first half of 20th Century?

That men and women have equal rights to start a divorce petition on the same grounds

What is a "conditional divorce order (or decree)?

The name of the order that replaces a Decree Nisi under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020

In what year did the contraceptive pill become available to married women on the NHS?

Page 10

In what year did civil partnerships allow same sex couples to enter a legal union that gave them equivalent rights to married couples?

2004

Why can a same sex couple not rely on adultery as a reason for dissolving a marriage or civil partnership?

Because the legal definition of adultery requires an act of sexual penetration of a woman by a man that the woman is not married to

What are the names of the opposite sex couple that took the case that established that restricting civil partnerships to same sex couples was unlawful and changed the law?

Steinfeld and Keidan

What is the difference between a void and a voidable marriage?

A void marriage is one which was not lawful in the first place and is not, therefore, recognised in law. A voidable marriage, is one which was entered into lawfully, but which is made unlawful by some reason after the ceremony.

Which article of the ECHR gives an qualified right to marriage

Article 12

Which of the following is NOT a true statement about the difference between marriage and civil partnership?