| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to amend the law relating to marriage and divorce. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1 Edw. 8. & 1 Geo. 6. c. 57 |
| Introduced by | A. P. Herbert (Commons) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 30 July 1937[1] |
| Commencement | 1 January 1938 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 (1 Edw. 8. & 1 Geo. 6. c. 57) is a law on divorce in the United Kingdom. It extended the grounds for divorce, which until then only included adultery, to include unlawful desertion for three years or more, cruelty, and incurable insanity, incest or sodomy.[2]
Apart from the Roman Catholic Church, Church of England and its associated Mothers' Union, there was broad support for divorce law liberalisation, as this legislation had not been significantly amended since the passage of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, when adjudication had been removed from church courts and placed before secular courts.
- ^ "Royal Assent". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 326. House of Commons. 30 July 1937. col. 3535–3537.
- ^ "Matrimonial Causes Act 1937: A Lesson in the Art of Compromise | Oxford Journal of Legal Studies | Oxford Academic". Academic.oup.com. 1 July 1993. Retrieved 7 February 2018.