Draft Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Tuesday 8th February 2022 General Committees

[The Chair]

I remind Members to observe social distancing and wear masks.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Tom Pursglove)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022.

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. The draft statutory instrument before us today makes amendments consequential on the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, ahead of its planned commencement on 6 April this year. These amendments update the language in secondary legislation, consequential on the changes to terminology made by the Act. They also introduce a new jurisdiction ground for joint applications consequential on the Act, making joint applications possible for the first time.

The amendments in paragraphs 1, 2 and 8 of the schedule to the regulations add a new ground to existing jurisdiction grounds that allows applications if either party to a joint application is habitually resident in England and Wales. When the United Kingdom left the EU, the EU regulation known as Brussels IIa was revoked, and the applicable jurisdiction grounds contained in Brussels IIa were replicated in domestic law. The additional jurisdiction ground also applicable to joint applications was not replicated, as at that time it was not possible to make a joint application for divorce or dissolution in England and Wales. That ground is now being added to the available grounds as a consequence of the Act introducing joint applications.

The remaining amendments in the schedule all contain amendments to terminology consequential on the changes made by the Act. For example, petitions will become applications, and “decree absolute” is replaced with “final order”. This statutory instrument will update this language across relevant secondary legislation. With that, I commend it to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tom Pursglove]

I am very grateful to the shadow Minister for his broad support for the measures. These important reforms—the biggest reforms to divorce law in over five decades—will come to fruition in April, and I know that colleagues across the House support and welcome them. Ensuring that proceedings can be carried out in a far less confrontational and controversial way will benefit families and, in particular, children.

I will gladly take away the shadow Minister’s point about legal aid and discuss it with my ministerial colleague with responsibility for it. It is right that we always keep under review the appropriateness of the legal aid offer in place across the legal system and the judicial system. The hon. Gentleman stated his desire for a greater legal aid offer; I will gladly pass that on so that ministerial colleagues can consider it in full. With that, I commend these regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.