§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Attorney-General how many divorce petitions were issued during the first six months of 1974 and in the first six months of the preceding five years; and what are the percentage differences between them.
§ The Attorney-GeneralFor the years up to and including 1974 the information is available only on an annual basis. The details for the years 1969 to 1974 are as follows:
115W
PETITIONS FOR DIVORCE, INCLUDING NULLITY AND JUDICIAL SEPARATION Year Number Percentage Change 1969 … … 61,445 — 1970 … … 71,892 +17 1971 … … 111,106 +55 1972 … … 111,052 Nil 1973 … … 116,376 +5 1974 … … 131,662 +13
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Attorney-General how many petitions for divorce have been issued by or on behalf of husbands and wives, respectively, during each of the last five-year periods for which records are available; how many and what percentage have been withdrawn before hearing and defended, respectively; how many and what percentage of defended and undefended petitions, respectively, have resulted in the granting of decrees to the petitioner and, where appropriate, to the respondent respectively; and in how many and what percentage of such cases were orders made relating to children.
In Court Period Undefended Defended Disposed of otherwise than by trial 1965 to 1969 … … 216,810 13,851 3,978 1970 to 1974 … … 480,160 12,690 12,468 (iii) It is not possible to relate the petitioners' decrees or respondents' decrees to the numbers of defende or undefended
Decrees granted For petitioner For respondent Period Husband Wife Husband Wife Dismissed or otherwise disposed of in court 1965 to 1969 … … 68,434 133,457 5,657 3,866 1,798 1970 to 1974 … … 173,088 306,730 4,669 3,499 6,150 (iv) The number of cases in which decrees were made, and orders were also made, in relation to children is not known.