DECEMBER [2004] IFL 1 Features THE CURRENT REFORM OF FRENCH LAW OF DIVORCE Christian Dadomo University of the West of England, Bristol, UK This article is based on a paper presented at the International Conference on Divorce: Causes and Consequences held in Beijing in July 2004 and sponsored by the International Society of Family Law and the China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing. Reform of French family law and, within it, of divorce has been in the pipeline since the late 1990s (See Françoise Dekeuwer-Defossez, Rénover le Droit de La famille, Report to the French Minister of Justice, September 1999, http://www.ladocfrancaise.go.../dekeuw er&fichier.htm; see also Irène Théry, Couple, Filiation et Parenté Aujourd’hui. Le Droit face aux Mutations de la Famille et de la Vie Privée (1998, Editions Odile Jacob, La Documentation Française, Paris). French law of divorce was substantially amended in 1975 when the Divorce Reform Act nr 75-617 (the 1975 Act) came into force. By introducing in the law divorce by mutual consent, the French legislators recognised the importance of pluralism of moral, philosophical and religious beliefs as well as the diversity of family situations and experiences. The main objective of the 1975 Act was to ‘de- dramatise’ divorce. While it still is a difficult personal experience for those involved, the procedures were designed to reduce the element of conflict inherent to divorce. Those innovations were meant to render divorce based on fault marginal. For that purpose, the 1975 Act created two forms of divorce by mutual consent: joint request and by acceptance of a unilateral request. However, despite those innovations and despite the inroads made by divorce by joint request in the French legal landscape, divorce based on fault has not been made redundant as predicted in 1975, and still forms the basis for nearly half the total of divorce cases. There are, of course, other reasons for proposing a reform or, less radically, an adaptation of the 1975 Act to the mutations of the French society: complexity, length and costs of proceedings, resentment of the parties, etc. All these reasons would justify a re-shaping of the French law of divorce. This is precisely the object of the recent Act of 26 May 2004 relating to divorce (the 2004 Act). This Act was debated and passed by the French Parliament within 6 months following, in accordance with art 45 of the French Constitution, a declaration of emergency. The purpose of this article is to present, analyse and assess this Act, against the background of the 1975 Act, and its likely outcomes, with particular emphasis on causes and consequences. The French conception of divorce There are four possible attitudes towards divorce that can translate into law, two being:  a ban on termination of marriage;  a unilateral termination of marriage (eg repudiation or for incompatibility of personalities). Between those two extremes, there are two moderate attitudes which, while recognising the necessity of divorce, do not accept divorce based on a unilateral decision of one of the partners:  mutual consent;  the recognition of divorce as a necessity (divorce based on fault) or divorce as a remedy to the breakdown of the relationship. Historically, French law of divorce has oscillated between those four conceptions and went through periods of prohibition and recognition of divorce, thus reflecting the moral, religious and sociological context of each historical period. The law of divorce before 1975 It was undeniably under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, for brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by UWE Bristol Research Repository