Thorpe LJ deplores rise in divorce tourism
Court of Appeal recognises Russian divorce decree
Lord Justice Thorpe has criticised the "wasteful" use of the English family courts by foreign couples filing for divorce.
In Golubovich v Golubovich [2010] EWCA Civ 180, a case involving a Russian couple, he said:
"They embarked upon a crude race, pitting one jurisdiction against the other and avoiding any judicial appraisal of where the balance of fairness and convenience lay."
The couple were based in London. Each lodged separate divorce proceedings, the wife in England and the husband in Russia. The husband obtained two decrees of divorce: the first was rejected as a forgery and the second as too late. However, the Court of Appeal determined that the second Russian decree was legitimate.
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