Chinahasseengrowthinitsdivorcerateinrecentyears,alargenumberbeingimpulsivedivorces.StatisticsfromtheMinistryofCivilAffairsofChinashowthatthecountry鈥檚divorceratehasgrownfor15consecutiveyearsfrom1.18millioncouplesin2002to4.37millionin2017.Accordingtoexperts,thecooling-offperiodisexpectedtogivethecoupleswantingtodivorceagraceperiodtorationallyreconsidertheirdecision.
Actually,acooling-offperiodinthedivorceprocessisnotnewtoChina.Courtsinmanyplaces,suchasAnyueCounty,SichuanProvinceandDanfengCounty,ShaanxiProvincehavepreviouslytriedthepractice.
Therearesomepeoplewhosupportthestipulation,believingthatthecooling-offperiodcaneffectivelyavoidimpulsivedivorce,helpsolvemarriagecrisesandmaintainfamilystability.Butthosewhoareagainstitbelievethatthisisinfringingonpeople鈥檚righttodivorceandthattheone-monthcooling-offperiodwillfurtherdeterioratetherelationsbetweenincompatiblecouples,resultinginnewproblems.
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WangYuruDeputyDirectorofShanghaiPsychologicalCounselingAssociation
Introducingacooling-offperiodtothedivorceprocessisapositivemoveinpeople鈥檚livesinthecontextthatChina鈥檚divorceratehasseengrowthforasuccessive15years.Withthepaceofmodernlife,newsocialchallengeshavealsoincreased,thusleadingtomoreimpulsivedivorcecases.Thesedays,moreandmoreyoungcouplesdonotcherishtheirmarriageandthinkdivorcecansolvealltheproblemstheyconfrontinfamilylife.Somecasualincidentsmaypushthemtodivorce,butactually,thesetriflesaredefinitelyfarfromharmingtheirlove.Divorceaffectsnotonlythehusbandandthewife,butalsootherfamilymembers.Inthiscontext,Ifirmlybelieveitisahuman-centeredideatosetacooling-offperiodwhenitcomestodivorce.Thus,wemustgivecouplessometimetorethinktheirdecisionssoastoavoidimpulsivedivorce.
JiangXinruJudgeatAnyueCountyPeople鈥檚CourtofSichuanProvince
Settingacooling-offperiodisoneofthewaystoimproveChina鈥檚divorceregistrationsystem.ThecurrentdivorceregistrationsysteminChinaistoosimple,leavingroomforimpulsivedivorce.Someimpulsivecouplesareirrationalandcarenothingabouttheconsequenceswhenitcomestodivorce,thusresultinginvarioussocialills.Evidenceshowsthatgirlsgrowingupinsingle-parentfamiliesaremorelikelytobecomeunmarriedmothersascomparedtothosewhoareraisedinfamilieswherebothparentsarepresentandmostjuvenileswhoviolatelawsorcommitcrimesarefrombrokenfamilies.Wecannotignorethis.Stabilityoffamiliesdirectlyinfluenceschildren鈥檚psychologicalhealthandtheirfuturedevelopment,andindirectlyinfluencestheirwholelife.Impulsivedivorceusuallybringsgreatpsychologicalimpactonbothsidesofacouple,andnegativelyinfluencesthemintheirlifeandwork.Fortunately,theone-monthcooling-offperiodcanreducetheoccurrencerateofimpulsivedivorce.
ChenTingtingLawyeratDentonsBeijing
Inthepreviousdivorcelawsuits,thecourtsusuallyexaminedtherelationsofthecoupleswantingtodivorceand,basedonthis,madejudgments.However,face-to-facechallengesofthehusbandandwifeinthecourtsalwaysincreasetheircontradictionsandconflictsandthusnegativelyinfluencedtherationaljudgmentsanddecisionmakingofpeopleinvolved.Inthiscontext,acooling-offperiodcanavoidsuch鈥渟econdaryharm鈥漷otheendangeredmarriageonthecourts.Ontheotherhand,evenifacouplefailstobereconciledduringthecooling-offperiod,relatedpartiescanalsohavemoretimetoadjusttheirmindsets.Thiscanreducethepsychologicalimpactfromthecourtjudgmentonthem.
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JiangHaisongAssociateProfessorattheLawSchoolofHunanUniversity
Somelocalcourtshavetriedthecool-offperiodwhilehand顱lingdivorcecases.Thiswasdonewiththeconsentofbothparties.However,thenewdraftdoesnotseekconsentfromthepeopleinvolved.Thiswillbringaseriesofnegativeresultsandthecooling-offperiodwillbemisused.Forinstance,indivorcecasesrelatedtodomesticviolence,mistreatingspouses,drugabuseandgambling,orincaseswhereonepartyhasseriousfaultsandtheotherpartyinsistsondivorce,thecooling-offperiodshouldnotapply.Otherwise,violatorsmayhavemoreopportunitiestoharmvictimsphysicallyandpsychologically.Inaddition,Chinacurrentlydoesnothavesupportinginstitutionsrelatedtodivorcesuchasassetfreezing,assetfilinganddeclaration,mediationsystemsorpsychologicalcounseling.Withoutsuchsupportinginstitutions,relatedpartiesmaytransferorhideassetsduringthecooling-offperiod,thusincreasingcomplicityofdivorcecases.
ZhangJianScholarincriminology
Itistruethatsettingthecooling-offperiodisinlinewithChina鈥檚traditionof鈥渋tisbettertopersuadepeopleintoreconcilement,insteadofintodivorce.鈥滲utitisnoteworthythatmarriageisstillthelegalbasisonwhichthemajorityoffamiliesarefoundedinChina.However,thefocusonChina鈥檚societyhasgraduallychangedfromfamiliestoindividuals.Thisreflectsthesocialprogress,aswellastheunavoidableresultoftheconstantimprovementinChina鈥檚nationalgovernancecapacityandorganizationalstructure.Wehavetorespecttherighttoindependenceofindividualsinvolvedinmarriageandprovideamorerelaxedandtolerantsocialenvironmentforthem.Substantially,marriagecanbedeterminedonlybythemarriedcouple.
ZhangJunProcurator
Divorceisanimportantevent.Thegovernmentandthecourthopethatpeoplecanbeprudentwhenitcomestodivorce.That鈥檚whythecooling-offperiodisproposed.Butnowweareadvocatingruleoflaw.Whilemakinglaws,weshouldnotonlythinkaboutseparatestipulationsthemselves.Moreimportantly,weshouldthinkaboutthis:Arethesestipulationsbasedon鈥減arentlegislation?鈥漈hismodeloflegislationmeanstomakedecisionsforotherpeople,worryingthattheymaymakemistakes.Forinstance,parentsthinkdivorceisnotgoodandtheypreventtheirchildrenfromgettingdivorcedwhileignoringtheirchildren鈥檚feelingsandtheirindependenceinmarriage.Judicialdepartmentsanddivorceregistrationagenciesshouldbeneutral,likeareferee.Intermsofacooling-offperiod,actuallythedivorceregistrationagencyisshowingitsintentionandstance.Itisadangeroustrend.