A senior Judge has called for cohabitees to be given the same legal rights and privileges as married couples, and for the idea of fault or blame to be removed completely from divorce laws.
Sir James Munby, President of the High Court Family Division, suggested that the divorce process should be made easier by removing the need for couples to obtain the approval of a judge.
In outlining his proposals for a radical overhaul of divorce laws, he said that couples should be able to end their marriage by simply signing a form at the register office, and that adultery and unreasonable behaviour should be removed as grounds for separation.
He added that couples who have lived together for a certain period of time should also have equal protections in law as those who are married.
Difficulty
But critics argue that the proposals are fraught with difficulty and will lead to the “demolition” of marriage.
Patricia Morgan, author of the Marriage Files, a study on the collapse of marriage to be published shortly, said: "It would be the end, the demolition, the abolition of marriage.
"These ideas would mean an end to any declaration of public commitment by a couple.
"They would open the door to the monster state, which would arrange your affairs and divide your money whether you like it or not.
This is the same Judge who claimed that Christians with traditional views on sexual ethics are unsuitable as foster carers, and that Christian beliefs on sexual ethics may be ‘inimical’ to children. He made the comments in his ruling in the case of Christian Legal Centre clients, Owen and Eunice Johns. You can read the Judgment here.
“Diluting”
Andrea Williams, of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “The elite seems to have lost confidence in marriage and appears intent on diluting and dismantling it. Last month we had the first same-sex ‘marriages’.
“Now we have the country’s most senior family judge suggesting that the protection of commitment be significantly downgraded.
“If divorce becomes still less serious, it will be children and the most vulnerable who suffer most.
“What we need is renewed confidence in marriage and a new institution that reflects the high values to which we once aspired and which, in the main, worked.”
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