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Divorce rate on rise as Family Court remains dormant
– more than 1,300 cases filed for 2014
By Rabindra Rooplall
Statistics from the Supreme Court show that 1,334 divorce matters were filed between January and December 2014. This year, to date, 223 cases were recorded.
Guyana’s current divorce laws, contained in the Matrimonial Causes Act, Cap 45:02 were first enacted on December 30, 1916. The last amendment was in 1953.
Guyana’s current fault-based divorce system is yet to be abolished to facilitate the option of a “no-fault divorce”. This is where a party should be able to obtain a divorce without the needs to rehash in court the problems and failures of their marriage.
Obtaining a divorce should not be dependent on the ability of one party to assign to the other the blame for the breakdown of the relationship.
As such, no-fault divorce is a divorce in which the dissolution of a marriage
The Family Court
requires neither a showing of wrong-doing of either party nor any evidentiary proceedings at all.
Laws providing for no-fault divorce allow a family court to grant a divorce in response to a petition by either party of the marriage, without requiring the petitioner to provide evidence that the respondent has committed a breach of the marital contract. Laws providing for no-fault divorce also limit the potential legal defences of a respondent who would prefer to remain married.
There is the argument by some that the divorce rate will increase should such a law be put in place but research has shown that this is not the case.
Research has shown that the ‘fault divorce’ system causes divorce cases to last up to 10 years or more in court, with parties being unable to settle custody, divide property and settlement. In addition, the fault system is more than not loving one another; it means that one spouse had to plead that the other had committed adultery, abandonment, felony, or other similarly culpable acts. However, the other spouse could plead a variety of defences, like recrimination (essentially an accusation of “so did you”).
A Judge could find that the respondent had not committed the alleged act or the Judge could accept the defence of recrimination and find both spouses at fault for the dysfunctional nature of their marriage.
The No Fault Divorce Bill was assented to in March 2009 and is still to be implemented.
Sources from the court said that in almost all the cases filed, the main reason given for divorce was malicious desertion.
The then Human Services Minister, Priya Manickchand, had approached Parliament with the ‘No-fault Divorce’ Bill which was assented to in March 2009.
The Minister previously stated that there needs to be legislation to facilitate good post-divorce relations, especially when there are children involved.
This newspaper understands that a no-fault divorce will empower the spouse who wishes to leave the marriage (generally the male here in Guyana), and will make powerless the spouse who is being left (generally the female here in Guyana). It was also noted that a serious backlog exists with divorce matters as well. It was opined that this was so because of how tedious it was to convince a judge of fault in a marriage.
Family Court
Meanwhile, years after the construction of the Family Court within the High Court Compound, Georgetown, it is yet to be operational. Reports disclose that the upper flat of the building will accommodate the judges’ chambers, the courtrooms and a children waiting facility, while the lower flat will be the Family Court’s Registry.
In 2010, the then Human Services Minister Priya Manickchand noted that the establishment of such a court was prompted by observations that Guyanese family units are affected by societal demoralisation.
It is expected that the services of the Family Court would be mostly sought by the Human Services and Social Security Ministry, through the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA).
The court was established to address problems arising from the dysfunction of the family unit, and to give special attention to child rights issues. It will handle issues such as divorce, division of property, domestic matters, adoption, guardianship, and custody.
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