Noble v Noble and Ellis (No. 2)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | LORD JUSTICE WILLMER,LORD JUSTICE DANCKWERTS,LORD JUSTICE DIPLOCK |
| Judgment Date | 21 February 1964 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [1964] EWCA Civ J0221-1 |
| Date | 21 February 1964 |
| Court | Court of Appeal |
[1964] EWCA Civ J0221-1
In The Supreme Court of Judicature
Court of Appeal
From Mr Justice Scarman
Revised
Lord Justice Willmer.
Lord Justice Danckwerts and
Lord Justice Diplock.
THE APPELLANT (Respondent) appeared in person.
Mr F. ELWYN JONES, Q. C. and Mr STANLEY J. WALDMAN (instruct ed by Mr S. Sydney Silverman) appeared on behalf of the Respondent (Petitioner).
This is an appeal from a judgment of Mr Justioe Scarman given on the 16th July 1963 in a matrimonial suit in which husband and wife made a number of charges against each other. The husband alleged that the wife had been guilty of cruelty to him, and he also allegedadulterous conduot between her and a named co-respondent. By a supplemental petition he added certain further charges of cruelty and also a prayer for the exerolse of thecourt's discretion in his favour, hts discretion statement disclosing that he had himself formed an adulterous association with another woman.
The wife oharged the husband with cruelty to her, and on that ground she sought relief for herself. By an amendment made at the trial she also oross-charged the husband with adultery, the adultery the subjeot of that charge being that which the husband bad himself disclosed In his discretion statement. But, more important, the wife put forward a further plea to the effect that the husband had been guilty of a collusive agreement with the co respondent. She alleged that the husband's petition was presented or prosecuted in collusion with the co-respondent, that that collusion tainted the whole of the suit and, as the law stood at that time, was an absolute bar to the husband's right to relief.
The parties had only been married in January 1956, and in the four years or so which are covered by their cohabitation It seems that they were living apart almost as much as they were living together. It is clear that they led a very stormy life together, and from the pleadings on both sides it is plain that there were a considerable number of incidents, many of which involved allegations of violence on one side or the other. All fihese Incidents were very carefully investigated by Mr Justice Scarman in the course of atrial which lasted some ten days or more, and the whole story is summarised in an elaborate judgment which he delivered at the end of the trial, and which extends to some forty eight pages.
In that judgment the learned judge went into the history of the marriage, and considered in detail the allegations walch were made on each side. More particularly (and if I may respectfully say so, most properly) he gave special consideration to the aort of people that the spouses were so that he could form a view as to the Impact of the conduct of the one upon the personality of the other. That was a perfectly correct approach, and beyond oriticlsm. Moreover, he had abundant opportunity for making up his mind as to the reliability and credibility of the two principal parties to the suit. He dealt In detail with both these aspectsof the matter In the course of his judgment. So far as the personality of the two parties Is concerned, he desorlbed the husband as a difficult man, but one whose powers of Intelligence and will must command respect. Of the wife he said that she was a passionate woman of strong emotions, and he added that she might also be said to be a very self-willed woman
When he came to the question of credibility the learned judge left no room for doubt that he found the husband in substance a witness of truth, and the wife a most unreliable witness who gave her evidence with very little regard to the truth. In those circumstances he substantially accepted the...
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Bibliography - A Selection
...EMMERICH, Herbert, T’he Specific Gravity of Decision- R. Iberoamer. Segur. Soc.: Revista Iberoamericana de ism. Publ. Adm. R., 4/1964, pp. 250-254. Seguridad Social FAVREAU, Robert, La place des Archives de France R. Inst. Der. Comp.: Revista del Instituto de Derecho dans l’administration. ......