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Uncontested divorces should not need to be approved by judges and should, instead, be automatically approved by registrars according to the president of the High Court Family Division. During a speech that he delivered on Tuesday Sir James Munby supported the introduction of no-fault divorce, adding that couples that agree to the end of their marriages should be able to visit a registrar in order to obtain a divorce provided that the couple did not have minor children. Munby further stated that such changes would not make divorce too easy or undermine the institution of marriage, arguing that no-fault divorce has been available (via the grounds of two-year separation with consent) for the past 30 years. He added that removing the grounds of unreasonable behaviour and adultery (the blamed based grounds upon which a divorce can be filed) would result in a more ‘intellectually honest’ system as well as simplify divorce procedure which has become convoluted as a result of individuals needing to prove that their spouses were to blame for the breakdown of their marriages. Sir Munby added that there are now many countries around the world that treat divorce as a purely administrative matter when the parties agree and no children are involved, adding that such matters are dealt with by a registrar and not a judge, stating that this has proven to be successful within such jurisdictions. In addition to his suggestions regarding divorce and married couples, Munby also urged legislators to introduce new laws to protect unmarried cohabiting couples, warning that many people are being ‘left on the scrapheap’ following their relationships having ended as a result of them not being afforded the same rights as married couples. The proposal to remove fault and the involvement of the judiciary from the divorce process in England and Wales has been met with criticism, however. Patricia Morgan, who authored the study The Marriage Files – an examination on the declining popularity of marriage – has argued that such changes would be ‘the death of marriage’. Additionally, solicitors have argued that divorce is the basis around which the division of joint-finances and new childcare arrangements are created. Therefore, they claimed, it should remain a legal process as removing the judiciaries’ participation from it could make it easier for one party to exploit the other. Removing the judiciary and fault from the divorce process would have a significant effect on those seeking an uncontested divorce and Quickie Divorce will be posting a blog post on these next week.