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This ruling comes at the end of a grotesque trial that has brought to light the undue practice, also followed by many compatriots, of referring to the English judge by falsifying the actual residence of the spouses in order to circumvent the strictest divorce legislation in the state. from. The case - of undoubted interest for legal practitioners and for couples about to separate, especially those residing abroad - has also garnered the attention of public opinion, revealing what has been defined as' a fraud of almost industrial scope ', which involved in various ways the Queen's Proctor, the Attorney-General , the President of the Family Division, a dishonest chancellor, the Thames Valley police and 180 Italian couples, all of whom had provided a post office box in Maidenhead as their usual residence address in the United Kingdom (a necessary requirement to establish the jurisdiction of the English legal system). To the aforementioned protagonists, are added Dr. R (who is accused of having unduly received sums of money at the expense of the English judicial apparatus and of the deceived Italian couples) and the Italian intermediary, Mr. G, who allegedly ' assisted Italian lawyers to allow easy divorces across Europe '. The trial ascertained how the fraudulent system had consolidated between 2010 and 2012, but the Court, with the ruling in question, finally put an end to this illegitimate practice, taking a harsh position of condemnation of what happened (which could have resolved also in criminal proceedings), followed by the promise to reform internal procedures in order to prevent similar situations from happening again in the future. On the sidelines of this, however, 180 divorce petitions (some of which had even already been definitively validated) filed in various English county courts by many Italian couples who had been attracted by the prospect of obtaining a divorce in England were invalidated for fraud. faster than what is granted in Italy. In fact, the trial found that, despite the false address in Maidenhead, none of the spouses involved, all residing in various Italian locations, had ever lived in the United Kingdom, so much so that many were not even able to notify the Queen's Proctor summons. and they may, therefore, remain completely unaware that their divorce has been invalidated. The scope of this ruling, in addition to the cases of bigamy that could arise and to the possible questions regarding the responsibility towards children born after the divorce, is to demonstrate, once again, the complexities inherent in the management of the family crisis and international separation and divorce procedures. Furthermore, the ruling will form the foundation on which the Family Court will modify its internal procedures in order to avert the danger of further fraud in the future. It is probable, for example, that in the coming months the number of courts authorized to receive divorce petitions will be considerably reduced and that there will be a general tightening of formal controls. In addition to the aforementioned profiles of interest, the ruling in question is clearly aimed at giving a signal to continental European jurists. Fully aware that "the sentence will be read by many operators with little familiarity with the English legal system", the President took the opportunity to send a message to all those who might be tempted to illegally exploit the advantages of a jurisdiction known as 'the divorce capital of the world'. In fact, the ruling clarifies in detail the titles underlying the English jurisdiction in matters of personal separation of spouses and divorce, explicitly declaring the illegitimacy inherent in the so-called 'divorce tourism' and warning that the European rules on the matter are clear and cannot be bypass. The firm is often contacted by clients or potential clients of Italian nationality interested in obtaining a speedy divorce in England. In fact, despite the recent openings of the government and parliament to reduce the time in cases of consensual divorce without children, Italian law still provides that spouses must wait three years from the request for separation before being able to file for divorce, so that it is understandable. that some have an interest in shortening this period. The ruling in question, however, confirms the risks that could arise in taking the English court in the absence of the residence requirements of the spouses provided for by law. In spite of the present case, a careful use of the institutions of international family law often makes it possible to effectively protect the interests of the parties. It is no coincidence, in fact, that, where there is more than one legal system abstractly competent to know about the personal separation of the spouses, there are often real 'races' to appeal to one jurisdiction rather than the other, given that the choice could affect many aspects of the separation or divorce, such as the amount of support awarded to the economically weaker spouse. In addition to this, it must be remembered that, in many cases, the English law allows to go to the British courts to request the integration of the support already established abroad, links to related information Contacts Suzanne Todd DD: +44 (0) 20 7597 6164 Email me James Copson DD: +44 (0) 20 7597 6044 Email me Related practice areas Personal Divorce & family law Divorce & family law Privacy Policy Complaints Suspicious Emails Accessibility Legal Notice / Attorney Advertising Contact us © Withers 2014