Divorce law amended for victims of family violence

In another display of cross-party agreement, the Family Proceedings (Dissolution of Marriage or Civil Union for Family Violence) Amendment Act (Amendment Act) was passed into law in October this year, and will come into force in October 2025.
The purpose of this legislation is to reduce the harm caused by family violence in marriage or civil union relationships. It amends the Family Proceedings Act 1980 to allow for a marriage or civil union to be dissolved where a party in the relationship has been the victim of family violence.
The increasing trend in family harm statistics in New Zealand paints a concerning picture. The NZ Police Annual Report 2022/23 stated “Family harm remains a significant issue in New Zealand. We have one of the highest rates of family harm in the OECD. In 2022/23 there were 177,452 family harm investigations recorded – a 49% increase from 2017.”
Prior to the Amendment Act changes the only grounds for dissolving a marriage or civil union was that the relationship had broken down irreconcilably, with the means for establishing this being that the parties in the relationship had been living apart for two years.
Statements from the legislation’s first reading in Parliament described victims of family violence as feeling bound to their abuser and unable to move on with their life, in what for them was two years of being in limbo.
The Amendment Act provides that a marriage or civil union may be dissolved on the ground that the applicant is a protected person under a protection order made against their spouse or civil union partner. The two-year separation requirement for dissolution is also removed, and the parties do not need to be living apart at the time an application for dissolution is made.
Protection orders include final protection orders made under the Family Violence Act 2018 or the Sentencing Act 2002, and a registered foreign protection order.
For an application for dissolution to be granted, a Registrar, or Family Court, must be satisfied that the ground of family violence is established. Any appeal rights in respect of the protection order must also have been exhausted or have expired. This addresses points raised by submissions to the select committee regarding temporary protection orders, whereby a respondent who has been served a protection order ‘without notice’, could have their marriage or civil union dissolved without having been able to defend the order.
The changes have been given 12 months, from Royal assent, before coming into force. This is to give the Family Court, legal profession, and advocacy groups time to prepare for the change, and for secondary legislation and the courts management system to be updated.