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Formal Consolidation |  2020 RevEd
Irretrievable breakdown of marriage to be sole ground for divorce
95.—(1)  Either party to a marriage may file a writ for divorce on the ground that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.
(2)  The court hearing such proceedings must, so far as it reasonably can, inquire into the facts alleged as causing or leading to the breakdown of the marriage and, if satisfied that the circumstances make it just and reasonable to do so, grant a judgment for its dissolution.
(3)  The court hearing any proceedings for divorce is not to hold the marriage to have broken down irretrievably unless the plaintiff satisfies the court of one or more of the following facts:
(a)that the defendant has committed adultery and the plaintiff finds it intolerable to live with the defendant;
(b)that the defendant has behaved in such a way that the plaintiff cannot reasonably be expected to live with the defendant;
(c)that the defendant has deserted the plaintiff for a continuous period of at least 2 years immediately preceding the filing of the writ;
(d)that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 3 years immediately preceding the filing of the writ and the defendant consents to a judgment being granted;
(e)that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 4 years immediately preceding the filing of the writ.
(4)  In considering whether it would be just and reasonable to grant a judgment, the court is to consider all the circumstances, including the conduct of the parties and how the interests of any child or children of the marriage or of either party may be affected if the marriage is dissolved, and it may make an interim judgment subject to such terms and conditions as the court may think fit to attach; but if it should appear to the court that in all the circumstances it would be wrong to dissolve the marriage, the court must dismiss the proceedings.
(5)  Where the parties to the marriage have lived with each other for any period or periods after it became known to the plaintiff that the defendant had, since the celebration of the marriage, committed adultery, then —
(a)if the length of that period or of those periods together was 6 months or less, their living with each other during that period or those periods is to be disregarded in determining for the purposes of subsection (3)(a) whether the plaintiff finds it intolerable to live with the defendant; but
(b)if the length of that period or of those periods together exceeded 6 months, the plaintiff is not entitled to rely on that adultery for the purposes of subsection (3)(a).
(6)  Where the plaintiff alleges that the defendant has behaved in such a way that the plaintiff cannot reasonably be expected to live with the defendant, but the parties to the marriage have lived with each other for a period or periods after the date of the occurrence of the final incident relied on by the plaintiff and held by the court to support the plaintiff’s allegation, that fact is to be disregarded in determining for the purposes of subsection (3)(b) whether the plaintiff cannot reasonably be expected to live with the defendant if the length of that period or of those periods together was 6 months or less.
(7)  In considering for the purposes of subsection (3) whether the period for which the defendant has deserted the plaintiff or the period for which the parties to a marriage have lived apart has been continuous, no account is to be taken of any one period (not exceeding 6 months) or of any 2 or more periods (not exceeding 6 months in all) during which the parties resumed living with each other, but no period during which the parties lived with each other counts as part of the period of desertion or of the period for which the parties to the marriage lived apart, as the case may be.
(8)  References in this section to the parties to a marriage living with each other shall be construed as references to their living with each other in the same household.
Informal Consolidation | Amended Act 21 of 2023
Divorce may be granted only if marriage has irretrievably broken down, etc.
95.—(1)  Either party to a marriage may apply to the court for a divorce.
(2)  A divorce is to be granted if and only if the court is satisfied that —
(a)the marriage has irretrievably broken down;
[Act 21 of 2023 wef 01/07/2024]
(b)if the applicant is relying on section 95A(1)(a), (b) or (c) — the applicant is not relying on his or her own adultery, behaviour or desertion, as the case may be; and
[Act 21 of 2023 wef 01/07/2024]
(c)it is just and reasonable to grant the divorce, having regard to all relevant circumstances, including —
(i)the conduct of the parties; and
(ii)how a divorce would affect the parties and any child of the marriage.
[Act 21 of 2023 wef 01/07/2024]
(3)  The court must dismiss an application for divorce if it is not satisfied as to the matters in subsection (2).
(4)  The court may grant an interim judgment for divorce (which may be subject to terms).
[Act 3 of 2022 wef 01/07/2024]
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Last updated 2 Jul 2024
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