Main Article Content
Legal and Practical Aspects of Divorce, Compensation and Liquidation of Pecuniary Relation between Spouses: A Case Study in SNNPRS Courts
Abstract
Family is
the n
Family is natural and fundamental unit of a society . Marriage is one of the essential ways to form a family and it is usually concluded with the assumption that it will last a lifetime. However, in reality, many marital
relations end up with divorce. The legal process of divorce, at a minimum, involves filing of petition and making financial arrangements.
This article examines the practices of courts regarding divorce, compensation and liquidation of property with specific reference to courts
in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State (SNNPRS)of Ethiopia .
To this end, a qualitative research approach has been undertaken using
case review, observation, and literature and legislative reviews methods..
The overall tendency observed in the courts is that the rules governing
divorce, liquidationof property and determination of compensation are not
consistently applied. Most of the courts have developed their own definition of what constitutes fault and how they assess the amount of compensation.
There is a wrong association between fault
s and modes of compensation
and inconsistency in assessing the extent of the damage and its equivalent
compensation that ranges from 52% to 66% of the common property for the same kind of fault. Such variations also existed in
the process of liquidation
of property. There are problems in identifying a personal and common
property. In one case, the court makes the income obtained during the
marriage a personal property, and in another case, the court decided a
property, which is given to one of the spouses by donation as a common
property of the spouse
s. In a few cases, the court decided that property,
which belongs to a third party
, as the common property of the spouse
s. In a different case, the court
spends division of common property arguing that such properties are useful for the upbringing of children. Most decisions of
the courts lack precision, which in turn expose
the spouses for further litigation.
the n
Family is natural and fundamental unit of a society . Marriage is one of the essential ways to form a family and it is usually concluded with the assumption that it will last a lifetime. However, in reality, many marital
relations end up with divorce. The legal process of divorce, at a minimum, involves filing of petition and making financial arrangements.
This article examines the practices of courts regarding divorce, compensation and liquidation of property with specific reference to courts
in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State (SNNPRS)of Ethiopia .
To this end, a qualitative research approach has been undertaken using
case review, observation, and literature and legislative reviews methods..
The overall tendency observed in the courts is that the rules governing
divorce, liquidationof property and determination of compensation are not
consistently applied. Most of the courts have developed their own definition of what constitutes fault and how they assess the amount of compensation.
There is a wrong association between fault
s and modes of compensation
and inconsistency in assessing the extent of the damage and its equivalent
compensation that ranges from 52% to 66% of the common property for the same kind of fault. Such variations also existed in
the process of liquidation
of property. There are problems in identifying a personal and common
property. In one case, the court makes the income obtained during the
marriage a personal property, and in another case, the court decided a
property, which is given to one of the spouses by donation as a common
property of the spouse
s. In a few cases, the court decided that property,
which belongs to a third party
, as the common property of the spouse
s. In a different case, the court
spends division of common property arguing that such properties are useful for the upbringing of children. Most decisions of
the courts lack precision, which in turn expose
the spouses for further litigation.
