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Adultery is not reason to file for divorce: Chinese court’s reasoning triggers some to say they just will not get married
- An article said because cheaters rarely live with their lovers they fail to meet ‘cohabitation’ standards
- However, legal scholars said the claim confused personal freedoms with the responsibilities of Chinese courts
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A provincial court in eastern China said in an article on Sunday that people cannot file for divorce if they only cite “adultery” as a reason for the break-up, causing a public uproar.
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The court in Shandong argued that because most people in affairs do not live with their lovers, cheating fails to meet the “cohabitation” standard that is a part of Chinese divorce laws.
“When a married person is caught cheating, their behaviour is not cohabitation as long as they do not live with the lover for a long, steady period, so their spouses cannot file for divorce for this reason. Furthermore, they cannot use adultery as the reason to request compensation for damages,” the article read.
It continued: “In other words, if you have evidence that your spouse got a room with someone of the opposite gender, you cannot file for a divorce because this is not long cohabitation.”
The article was taken down after the general public heavily criticised it.
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In January 2021, China passed a law that established a 30-day cooling-off period for couples who want a divorce. The logic was that they might make up during that period.
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