Divorce (Religious Marriages) Act 2002

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Divorce (Religious Marriages) Act 2002
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (variant 1, 1952-2022).svg
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title An Act to make provision enabling a court to require the dissolution of a religious marriage before granting a civil divorce
Citation 2002 c. 27
Introduced by Andrew Dismore
Territorial extent  England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent 24 July 2002
Commencement 24 February 2003
Other legislation
Relates to Matrimonial Causes Act 1973
Family Law Act 1996
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Divorce (Religious Marriages) Act 2002 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Divorce (Religious Marriages) Act 2002 (c. 27) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act amends the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 to allow one party to petition a court to not declare their divorce decree absolute until they have received a similar document from a religion's authority.

Contents

Background

The need for the legislation was demonstrated in the 2000 divorce case of O v O. [1]

Jewish law requires a civil divorce and a Get (religious divorce) for a person to remarry. [2]

Provisions

The act allows a civil judge to require that a civil divorce until a religious divorce has been carried out. [3]

Legislative passage

The act was brought before Parliament by Andrew Dismore MP as a private members' bill under the Ten Minute Rule. [4]

Suggested reform

Muslim Women’s Network UK has suggested amending the act to include Muslim divorces. [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ O v O (Jurisdiction: Jewish Divorce) [2000] 2 FLR 147
  2. ↑ Levine, Deanna (16 June 2011). "Many solicitors remain worryingly ignorant of the Get". The Law Society Gazette. Archived from the original on 3 September 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  3. ↑ Boztas, Senay (8 January 2016). "UK Jewish Orthodox councils 'institutionalising marital captivity and upholding discriminatory religious laws'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  4. ↑ Bates, Stephen (27 July 2002). "Law seeks to ease Jewish divorces". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  5. ↑ Akthar, Nazmin (16 April 2019). "Time to tackle religious marriages". The Law Society Gazette. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2025.


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