UK top court overturns 180 divorces by Italians over 'conspiracy to pervert the course of justice'
The judge overseeing Britain’s top family court on Tuesday overturned 180 divorce cases involving Italian nationals, on the basis that the parties were not truthful about their U.K. residencies. In 91 of the cases, the final decrees had been granted.
According to the Financial Times (reg. req), divorce in Italy requires a three-year separation process. Divorcing in other European Union countries is significantly shorter, but one must reside in the country where one files.
A court staff member in 2012 noticed that on two separate divorce filings involving Italian nationals, the parties used the same address. On further investigation, it was discovered that petitioners in 179 of the divorce cases had used the address, which according to the article was for a mailbox on “commercial premises.”
“Given the dimensions of the mailbox it is clear that not even a single individual, however small, could possibly reside in it,” said Sir James Munby, president of Britain’s family court. He described the deceit as a “conspiracy to pervert the course of justice on an almost industrial scale.”
At the moment, there are 137 county courts throughout England and Wales in which divorce petitions can be filed. According to the Financial Times, the court is now centralizing locations for divorce filings.
“This alone, however, will probably not be enough to prevent such frauds,” Munby said.
