The protracted and high profile divorce case involving Scottish aristocrat, Charles Villiers, and his wife, Emma, has taken another interesting twist. The Supreme Court last month consented and have now subsequently heard legal action by Mr Villiers which challenges the loophole created by EU laws which means that Scotland and England as treated two separate countries in divorce proceedings.
The loophole refers to what is known as ‘divorce tourism’, whereby a party in divorce proceedings uses the English Courts in order to get a more favourable financial settlement.
Charles and Emma Villiers divorce battle
Case background
The couple began divorce proceedings in 2014 in Scotland after Charles Villiers issued a divorce petition at Dumbarton Sheriff Court. However, three months later Emma Villiers, who had relocated to London following the separation, applied to the English Courts for financial maintenance, in which she sought £10,000 a month.
Charles Villiers accused his wife of money grabbing by having the case moved to the English Courts’ which have historically favoured women in divorce cases. Mr Villiers has also said that the English Courts’ have no right to interfere in the proceedings and that their interference is only as a result of the EU loophole mentioned above.
In 2016, the High Court in England ruled that Emma Villiers was habitually resident in London, so the English Courts could oversee the financial maintenance of the separation. Pending finalisation of the proceedings, Charles Villiers was ordered to pay his wife £5,500 a month, plus her legal costs.
Mr Villiers challenged the ruling, claiming that the divorce should take place solely in Scotland. The Court of Appeal dismissed this claim by Charles Villiers, commenting that divorce proceedings in Scotland and a financial maintenance dispute in England were not ‘related actions’. The Court of Appeal also commented that EU laws were applied correctly when maintenance laws were first introduced in the UK earlier this decade, which treats England and Scotland as separate member states for the purposes of financial maintenance settlements.
However, the Supreme Court then intervened and last week heard legal action from Charles Villiers, which he hopes will bring an end to the EU loophole and allow him to legally separate from his wife. After the Supreme Court hearing, Mr Villiers commented:
“A major dimension of my case has been the piece of outrageous supranational law-making by the EU which interferes in our domestic intra-UK divorce laws.
“It decrees Scotland and England are two independent EU nations for the purposes of intra-UK divorces. This is a deplorable interference by the EU.”
Charles Villier’s legal team added:
“The case, really, is about which constituent part of the UK should have jurisdiction to deal with Mrs Villiers’ claim for maintenance against Mr Villiers.
“Previously, a UK judge had a power to decide whether a maintenance claim was best heard in his court or would be better heard in another part of the UK.
“The government’s concern is that if the Supreme Court rules that the government did not have this power, then by implication the government’s power might be limited in other areas too.
“That is important, particularly because the government’s expressed intention post-Brexit is to make or change lots of law through this or a similar route.”
The Supreme Court ruling is due to be delivered early next year.
Post-Brexit UK divorce laws
The outcome of this case could have wide ranging implications in relation to post-Brexit UK divorce laws, which are currently under the jurisdiction of the EU. Previously the Government had commented that the current laws would not change after the UK left the EU. However, the Supreme Court’s ruling could potentially change this.
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