Matrimonial Proceedings (Children) Act, 1958
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1959.tb00509.x |
| Date | 01 January 1959 |
| Published date | 01 January 1959 |
| Author | O. Kahn‐Freund |
,JAs.
1959
STATUTES
45
of the Advisory Council with regard to section
17
of the Criminal
Justice Act,
1948,
though there may be reason to criticise the
precise terms in which the recommendation has been implemented.
J.
E.
HALL
WILLIAMS.
MATRIMONIAL
PROCEEDINGS
(CHILDREN) ACT,
1958
IN
the summer of
1958
Parliament passed six statutes dealing with
the family and with child welfare. Perhaps none of them
is
potentially
of
greater practical importance than this Act which gives
effect to a number of Recommendations of the Royal Commission
on Marriage and Divorce.’ The policy of these Recommendations
was to enlarge the jurisdiction of the High Court and of the Scottish
courts to provide for the welfare of children of broken marriages.
“
Each year in Great Britain some
20,000
children under the age of
sixteen are affected by the divorce of their parents.”
’
The present
Act seeks
to
ensure that the parents give full consideration to the
question of the future welfare
of
the children and
to
make the
control of the court over their welfare more effe~tive.~
A
number
of Recommendations serving this policy have already been imple-
mented by the Matrimonial Causes (Amendment) Rules,
1957,4
e.g.,
that either spouse if claiming custody of the children must
give full particulars of the arrangements proposed for their support,
care and upbringing,’ and that the court may, if
it
thinks
fit,
order
the children to be separately represented.6 Moreover, the Recom-
mendation that the court welfare service introduced in the Divorce
Court in London after the Denning Report’ should also be
introduced in the Provinces has been largely implemented by
administrative action. Certain Recommendations, however, re-
quired legislation, and this is where the present Act comes in. Its
Part
I9
deals with England and Wales, and its Part
I1
contains
parallel provisions for Scotland. The following observations are
confined to Part
I.
There will not in future be any justification for considering the
fate of the children as a matter
“
ancillary
”
to the matrimonial
relief sought by either spouse.
It
was the declared policy of the
Royal Commission that
“
in every divorce case the interests
of
the
children
yy
should “be an issue before the court and that that
issue
y7
should
(‘
be recognised as one which
is
just as important as
the question of divorce.”
lo
Much the most fundamental innovation
1
Cmd. 9678.
2
Cmd. 9678, para.
360.
J
Ibid.,
para. 372.
4
S.I.
19.57,
So.
17G.
5
Recommendation
So.
33, para. 374
of
the Report.
6
Recommendation
No.
94,
para. 927
of
the Report.
7
Cmd. 7024.
8
Recommendation
No.
35,
para. 389
of
the
Report.
9
88.
1-6.
10
Para. 376.
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