With its Ruling № 480 of December 11, 2020, the Third Civil Division of the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled that it was lawful to grant a divorce by mutual consent
without the parties going to court.
The Supreme Court of Cassation pointed out that “According to the Art. 330, para. 1 of the Civil Procedure Code, in case of a petition for divorce by mutual consent, the spouses shall appear in person at a court hearing According to the Art. 330, para. 2 of the Civil Procedure Code, if one of the spouses fails to appear without a valid reason, the case shall be terminated. The personal attendance of the applicants is provided for in view of the Court’s obligation to satisfy itself that the consent to divorce is serious and unwavering. However, this does not preclude applicants from being represented
by express power of attorney, for valid reasons.
The following two preconditions will have to be fulfilled in order for the court to allow the dissolution of the marriage by mutual consent and without the parties going to court:
The first precondition is that any party that cannot attend has a “good and valid reason” for not being able to attend in person. A good and valid reason can be proved by presenting relevant evidence, and then it is up to the panel hearing the case to judge if the reason is “good and valid”.
The second precondition is that the party that cannot attend in person has expressly authorized a procedural representative to appear in open court and clearly state the will of that party. It will be sufficient that from the wording of the power of attorney “it is possible to deduce the actual will regarding the agreement”, as “the wording of the agreement does not have to be reproduced word for word in the power of attorney
If it is time for you to end your marriage and you are looking for the right legal approach, you can count on our team for all the assistance required.
