France: debate on divorce” “

We are dedicating an enquiry to the situation of the family in Europe. We wish to examine how the main problems that affect the family are being debated in the various countries. We will begin with France where each year some 340,000 couples (in comparison with 220,000 in 1993) begin divorce proceedings. A new law on divorce was presented to the French Senate on 11 October 2001. This bill is still at the discussion stage. The last reform of the law in this field dates back to 11 July 1975: a series of complex provisions was introduced as part of it (plurality of causes, proceedings and effects) mainly based on the agreement of the couples in question and always linked to the concept of blame. The consequences of this amendment were not slow in arriving, to judge from the growth of the numbers: in 1964 there were some 30,000 divorces in France, in 1986, more than 106,700. The new reform is aimed mainly at abbreviating the procedures. The causes of divorce no longer depend on “morally reprehensible offences”, such as adultery, alcoholism, lack of financial assistance, neglect of children, etc. So divorce becomes a right to which one of the spouses can have recourse and, if he/she wishes, can impose it on the other spouse, in some cases with the payment of a cheque in compensation. To analyze the implications of the new law, we interviewed Marie-Joseph Creps , president of CLER (“Centre de liaison des équipes de recherche”), a Christian movement of conjugal and family information, education and counselling, active in the field of the pastoral care of the family. What are the main innovations of the law on divorce currently being discussed by the French Senate? “First of all, with the new law, two forms of divorce disappear: first, that based on the fact that the spouses no longer live together, which concerned only 1% of cases; repudiation occurred after six years of separation. Second, divorce on accepted application also disappears: this form permitted couples contemplating divorce to reflect on their responsibilities; they had to demonstrate that theirs was a mature decision. It also permitted the conflicts between couples to be tackled in open and sometimes to be resolved. It is a serious matter that this procedure is being eliminated”. Will divorce by mutual consent also be eliminated? “No, divorce by mutual content will remain: the judge may immediately pronounce the divorce if he is convinced that there is a real wish on the part of the couple and that each spouse has given his/her free and declared consent. The drawback in this case is that a spouse in a state of shock due to imminent separation at times accepts and signs the divorce settlement without being wholly clear-sighted about what is at issue and after a few months is powerless to do anything about it. The divorce is certified by the judge, but it is in effect an administrative divorce. Another form of divorce also remains: for irremediable violation of the conjugal bond. In this case the divorce is a sanction for duties not performed”. Does it seem to you that these changes bring any real progress? “What would have been truly positive, through this new law, would have been to impose on the couple a form of mediation; but this was only proposed. Nothing was said about who should assume this mediation or how. Nonetheless, the new law does reinforce the attempt at reconciliation by personal interviews. Moreover, if one of the two spouses contests the breakdown, the judge has the power to postpone the audience for four or six months, thus leaving a period of possible reflection to them. These two provisions seems to suggest that the law in valid in part. But we would have to see what actually happens in practice”.