HL Deb 28 May 1970 vol 310 cc1188-9

[No. 21.] After Clause 27, insert the following new clause:

Validation of certain void or voidable decrees

". Any decree of divorce, nullity of marriage or judicial separation which, apart from this section, would be void or voidable on the ground only that the provisions of section 33 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1965 (which restricts the making of decrees of dissolution or separation where children are affected) or of section 2 of the Matrimonial Proceedings (Children) Act 1958 (corresponding provision replaced by the said section 33) had not been complied with when the decree was made absolute or granted, as the case may be, shall be deemed always to have been valid unless—

  1. (a) before the commencement of this Act the court declared the decree to be void; or
  2. (b) in proceedings for the annulment of the decree pending at the said commencement the court declares the decree to be void."

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 21. This new clause deals with the problem of decrees which might be challenged as being void or voidable fox failure to comply with Section 33 of the 1965 Act. As a result of the new clause, such decrees will be treated as having been valid unless already annulled before the commencement of this Bill when it becomes an Act, or subsequently annulled in proceedings then pending. It is a point on which there has been some conflict of judicial opinion, and it is desirable to clarify it.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment—(The Lord Chancellor.)

VISCOUNT COLVJLLE OF CULROSS

My Lords, perhaps this is the most important of the new clauses that have been inserted in another place. There are a number of different ways in which one could have dealt with this matter. I am certainly not going into them, and they were discussed, albeit a little briefly, in another place. I would suggest that this method of resolving the difficulty is the right one, is unlikely to cause any difficulty, and certainly will clear up what would otherwise be a grave dubiety in the law.

On Question, Motion agreed to.