§ 46. Miss Baconasked the Attorney-General if he proposes to make any alteration in the law to enable a British citizen, whose wife is detained in a foreign country, to obtain a divorce.
§ The Solicitor-General (Sir Frank Soskice)No, Sir. I do not think that it would be right to alter the general law so as to make detention in a foreign country a ground for divorce.
§ Miss BaconIs my hon. and learned Friend aware that a husband of one of the Russian wives wishes to obtain a divorce, and does that mean that there will be no way in the future in which he can do so?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralAs my hon. Friend has said, one of the husbands—my information is that there are two—of the Russian wives has expressed a desire to obtain a divorce. The position of the wives themselves must be considered. It is not their fault that they cannot rejoin their husbands. In any case, it would be a dangerous precedent to amend the general law to make provision for individual cases of hardship.
§ Mr. Hector HughesWill my hon. and learned Friend say whether in the event of one of these husbands going through a form of marriage with a woman in this country, he would be likely to be prosecuted for bigamy?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe ordinary consequences of an infringement of criminal law would follow.