Routledge is publishing a book on
the legal history of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The book explores the rise of
civil divorce in Victorian England, the subsequent operation of a fault system
of divorce based solely on the ground of adultery, and the eventual piecemeal
repeal of the Victorian era divorce law during the Interwar years. The legal
history of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 is at the heart of the book. The Act
had a transformative impact on English law and society by introducing a secular
judicial system of civil divorce. This swept aside the old system of divorce
that was only obtainable from the House of Lords and inadvertently led to the
creation of the modern family justice system. The book argues that only through
understanding the legal doctrine in its wider cultural, political, religious
and social context is it possible to fully analyse and assess the changes
brought about by the Act. The major developments included the end of any
pretence of the indissolubility of marriage, the statutory enshrinement of a
double standard based on gender in the grounds for divorce, and the growth of
divorce across all spectrums of English society. The Act was a product of
political and legal compromise between conservative forces resisting the legal
introduction of civil divorce and the reformers who demanded married women
receive equal access to the grounds of divorce. Changing attitudes towards
divorce that began in the Edwardian period led to a gradual rejection of
Victorian moral values and the repeal of the Act after eighty years of
existence in the Interwar years.
The book will be a valuable
resource for academics and researchers with an interest in Legal History,
Family Law, and Victorian Studies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Henry Kha is a Lecturer in the
School of Law, Macquarie University, Australia.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Introduction
2 The Tripartite Divorce System
3 The Enactment of the
Matrimonial Causes Act 1857
4 Divorce under the Matrimonial
Causes Act 1857
5 The Divorce Courts
6 Divorce Law Reform in the Early
Twentieth Century
7 Quo Vadis? The Road to Divorce
More info here
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