Obstructing the Right to Divorce Freedom? Comparison of Divorce Barriers in the UK And China

Abstract

The decision to establish a cooling-off period for divorce in China has sparked widespread discussion in society. Through historical research on China’s divorce system, it has been found that the barriers to divorce in China are constantly increasing. The comparison of the barriers to divorce between China and the UK highlights the differences in legislation and judicial practices that affect the freedom of divorce between the two countries. Intervention measures such as the fault divorce system and the cooling-off period for divorce indicate that China’s divorce barriers are increasing; In contrast, the UK has shifted towards a no-fault divorce system, providing more freedom for individual divorce. Despite these changes, the difficulty of divorce in China is lower than in the UK.