Sept. 7.
It is interesting to note that a recent issue of the Hongkong Government Gazette contains th terms of a proposed ordinance for the purpose of conferring upon the local Courts jurisdic~ tion in divorce and other matrix monial causes, which is shortly to be introduced into the Legislative Council. The proposed measure provides that petitions for divorce, judicial separation and nullity' of marriage will be heard and allowed on the same conditions as in Great Britain, and in all main respects the procedure to. be adopted will follow as nearly as possible the principles upon which the High Court in England for the time being acts and gives relief in matrimonial proceedings. There is, however, restrictions to the effect that ' there shall be no decree for dissolution of marri age except where (a) the marriage was either a Christian marriage, or the civil equivalent of a Christian marriage; and (b) where the domicile of the parties to the marriage at the time when the petition was presented wat in the the Colony. The 01 @inance, therefore, is drafted in such a manner as to care for those communities where divorce not been a personal and ily matter as is the case with certain non-Christian peoples. and in which the Government has rarely been called upon to intervene.
the past, residents of Hongkong, desiring relief in Jmatrimonial troubles have been obliged either to' proceed home for the' purpose of suing in the British Courts, or to obtain a divorce by taking evidence on commission, forwarding them to|hi representative at home and showing cause in the High Court. the procedure has been slow land cumbrous, to say the, least, land the cost has in "many Instances, been such that an aggrieved party has been prevented from seeking a remedy for' which he would have been well-able to pay had the local courts been available. possible that recourse to the Home Courts will still be availed lof by those able to afford it and liesirous of not airing their roubles in local tribunals, but it is apparent, especially in lof the growth in the permanent population of the Colony that the Hongkong Government preparing to give a very real felief which could not otherwise be obtained, The measure as drafted is upon the usual cautious lines of such enactments, for not only is it calculated to deal solely with Christian marriages and. their civil equivalents, but further protection against abuse of the process is to be found in the provision regarding domicile. Tt is probable in this latter respect that the Hongkong judges will the put to some trouble in defining domicile as was the case when divorce jurisdiction was granted to H.M. Supreme Court un China, but in a comparatively short while, especially with the precedents which have been set istence, it is to be expected that domicile—for divorce purposes will be just as clearly defined in Hongkong as it has been here. It is, when all said and done, a question of evidence and the discretion of the judge. It will have the effect of narrowing the application of the ordinance to cases arising purely in Hongkong and in no sense provides facilities for making the Colony a divorce mart. The departure on the whole is to be welcomed as placing residents in Hongkong, in this respect, upon exactly the same footing at Britons residing, in China. Tt is possible that it will be availed of as infrequently. jus it is in Shanghai, but the existence of such jurisdiction is [calculated to have as much beneficial effect at large as its application may have in individual cases.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.