Dear barbershop1234-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. There is no law in the UK concerning divorce that
automatically subjects a person named in a divorce petition to a
criminal background check. That of course is not to say that the court
does not have the authority to initiate such an investigation if, for
example, the divorce is based on the grounds of "unreasonable
behaviour". Typically British courts are not too demanding about
details and proof concerning "unreasonable behaviour" - particularly
where the parties are in agreement on a divorce. However, in a
contested case it is possible that a court might order a criminal
background on a party if, say, the "unreasonable behaviour? alleged
was criminal in nature and a background would provide proof of that
fact. Conversely of course, if one is alleged to have had a criminal
background and does not, one might submit to a criminal background
check in order to disprove the allegations.
Divorce in England and Wales is currently governed by the Matrimonial
Causes Act 1973. The core legislation the court must consider in cases
of divorce then is the MATRIMONIAL CAUSES ACT 1973 (MCA 73). The
Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 96), when fully in force*, will modify the
Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (*Parliament passed the Family Law Act
1996 which would have modified MCA 73 to some extent. The Act was due
to be brought into force in stages by Statutory Instruments and wound
up being postponed for the time being.)
MATRIMONIAL CAUSES ACT 1973
http://www.swarb.co.uk/acts/1973Matrimonial_CausesAct.shtml
WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce
There is no legal reference or provision in the Matrimonial Causes Act
that automatically subjects any party to a UK divorce, or party named
in a UK divorce decree, to a criminal background check. Likewise I
found no such reference in the supporting UK Family Law statutes
either:
FAMILY LAW ACT 1996
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/1996027.htm
CHILDREN ACT 1989
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1989/Ukpga_19890041_en_1.htm
STATUTORY INSTRUMENT 1991 NO. 1991 (L.32)
The Family Proceedings Courts (Matrimonial Proceedings etc.) Rules 1991
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1991/Uksi_19911991_en_1.htm
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES
DIVORCE PROCEDURE in ENGLAND
http://www.terry.co.uk/divorce6.html
"Unreasonable behaviour" http://www.terry.co.uk/divorce1.html
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