Guidelines needed for obtaining evidence of divorces abroad, says Ombudsman

THE Ombudsman has called for the introduction of guidelines for people who are required to give evidence of divorces obtained abroad to the General Register Office.

In a report published yesterday by the Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, regarding complaints received against the General Register Office (GRO), a number of cases dealt with the recognition of foreign divorces in Ireland.

The GRO needs to draw up a comprehensive statement “for those individuals, who are required to provide evidence supporting the recognition of divorces obtained abroad, outlining what evidence is required and advising how they might obtain such evidence”.

The Ombudsman also called on the GRO to undertake “a review of cases where it had considered that insufficient evidence was available for the recognition of divorces obtained abroad but which were subsequently recognised by the courts on the basis of the same evidence. The objective of this review will be to create a database of precedent cases which would facilitate fast-tracking the process”.

Complaints received concerning the GRO “have centred on issues involving correction or amendment of entries in the registers and the recognition of foreign divorces prior to remarriage”.

The complications faced by a couple who wished to obtain a version of their marriage certificate in the Irish language was also highlighted.

The couple received the certificate two years and three months after the application was made and after the involvement of the ombudsman’s office.

“The couple then wrote to me seeking compensation for the trouble taken in seeking the copy of the certificate. I took this up with the GRO. Two years and six months after the matter had been broached it finally agreed to compensate the complainants.”

On the issue of recognising foreign divorces prior to remarriage, “these complaints revolve around the concept of domicile. Under the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act, 1986, a foreign divorce could be recognised in Ireland if at least one spouse was domiciled in the state that granted the divorce when proceedings commenced.

“In the cases which are the subject of this report the divorced person was living in Ireland and the recognition of the divorce depended on whether the domicile of the ex-spouse was in the state which granted the divorce, at the time the divorce proceedings were initiated,” the report states.