By Gary EleazarGuyana’s current fault-based divorce system could soon be abolished as the ongoing consultations are proving to be encouraging as it relates to a no fault system to be put in place.No-fault divorce is a divorce in which the dissolution of a marriage requires neither a showing of wrong-doing of either party nor any evidentiary proceedings at all.Laws providing for no-fault divorce allow a family court to grant a divorce in response to a petition by either party of the marriage, without requiring the petitioner to provide evidence that the respondent has committed a breach of the marital contract.Laws providing for no-fault divorce also limit the potential legal defences of a respondent who would prefer to remain married.There is the argument by some that the divorce rate will increase should such a law be put in place but research has shown that this is not the case.Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, is spearheading the consultation process in a bid to make a divorce for persons less messy.The Minister is of the opinion that should someone wants to be divorced it means that there was already something wrong with the marriage and making the process even more difficult.Some are also of the opinion that the situation in which two persons are stuck in a marriage and cannot get out of it because they can’t prove fault could lead to abuse, given that frustration will eventually deepen.There are many persons who have been separated for years and would like to remarry to somebody else but that process is frustrated because of the fact that they will have to go to a court and prove something bad about the other person when in many cases this is difficult.A divorce in Guyana could be obtained only through a showing of fault of one of the parties in a marriage.This was something more than not loving one another; it means that one spouse had to plead that the other had committed adultery,wholeslae cheap nfl jerseys china, abandonment, felony,Cheap Jerseys, or other similarly culpable acts. However, the other spouse could plead a variety of defences, like recrimination (essentially an accusation of “so did you”).A Judge could find that the respondent had not committed the alleged act or the Judge could accept the defence of recrimination and find both spouses at fault for the dysfunctional nature of their marriage.Minister Manickchand is also hopeful that the establishment of the Family Court will assist in division of property, given that at present even though some persons may have got a divorce, it still takes in some cases years to work out unresolved issue.Such issues could include division of property and custody battles which could see the litigants back and forth in court for years.The Minister said that it is hopeful that these matters could be resolved faster with the help of the Family Court.The Ministry held its first consultation on the “Reform of the Divorce Laws” at City Hall on November 7 last year,cheap jerseys, allowing persons to present proposals and views on the reform of the law.Guyana’s current divorce laws,Supply MLB Jerseys China, contained in the Matrimonial Causes Act,Cheap Jerseys, Cap 45:02 were first enacted on December 30, 1916.The last amendment was in 1953 and Minister Manickchand noted that while there have been a few minor amendments to the act these were not substantial.Obtaining a divorce should not be dependent on the ability of one party to assign to the other the blame for the breakdown of the relationship.