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The English Concept of Domicile – A Re-evaluation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 May 2009
Extract
The formal starting-point for this article is the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973 which came into force on 1 January 1974 and which makes significant changes in the law relating to jurisdiction in matrimonial proceedings and the law relating to domiciles of dependency. The true startingpoint was with the various Reports and Working Papers of the Law Commission for England and Wales which preceded the statute and prepared the way for the introduction of the changes.
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References
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10. Re-enacted as s. 18 (1) (a), s. 40 (1) (a), s. 46 (1) (a), Matrimonial Causes Acts 1950, 1965, 1973 respectively; repealed, Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, Schedule 6.
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12. Re-enacted as s. 18 (1) (b), s. 40 (1) (b), s. 46 (1) (b) Matrimonial Causes Acts 1950, 1965, 1973 respectively; repealed, Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, Schedule 6.
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17. Article 3 whereby the meaning of habitual residence as employed in Article 2 includes domicile as that term is used in the State of origin but does not include the domicile of dependency of a wife.
18. G.A. Res. 217 (III), adopted Paris, 10 December 1948, GAOR, 3rd. Sess. Part I.
19. Law Commission Published Working Paper No. 28, Family Law: Jurisdiction in Matrimonial Causes (other than Nullity), 1970Google Scholar, para. 40; hereafter referred to as Law Comm. W.P. No. 28.
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30. The enactments applied where the court had jurisdiction, in the first case to proceedings for presumption of death and dissolution of mariage and in the second to proceedings under s. 40 (1) on the basis of the wife petitioner's residence in England, though neither spouse was domiciled in England.
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38. Ibid., para. 83.
39. Law Comm. Rep. No. 48, para. 104.
40. Law Comm. W.P. No. 28, para. 83.
41. Law Comm. Rep. No. 48, para. 39.
42. Law Comm. W.P. No. 28, para. 83.
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44. Ibid. p. 40.
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89. Ibid., p. 598 per Lord Macmillan.
90. Udny v. Udny (1869), L.R. 1 Sc. & Div. 441, 458per Lord Westbury.Google Scholar
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94. Graveson, (1972) 19 Neth. Int. L.R. 31, 39.Google Scholar
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96. [1930] A.C. 588.
97. The irony of the case was that of the eight judges involved in the determination six concluded in favour of a change of domicile – both judges at first instance, all three judges on appeal to the Court of Appeal, and one in the final appeal to the House of Lords. Of the other two judges sitting in the House one declared himself unable to reach any positive decision on the conflicting evidence and fell back on the rule that the domicile of origin must continue on a failure to discharge the onus of proof of showing a change.
98. Bruce v. Bruce (1790), 2 Bos. & P. 229Google Scholar n. See, supra, n. 83.
99. Ramsay v. Liverpool Royal Infirmary [1930] A.C. 588.Google Scholar
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102. The exception is Casdagli v. Casdagli [1919] A.C. 145Google Scholar. See, Morris, , op. cit., p. 20.Google Scholar
103. Indyka v. Indyka [1967] 2 A.E.R. 689, 697Google Scholarper Lord Reid.
104. Ibid., pp. 710–11 per Lord Pearce.
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107. (1869) L.R. 1 Sc. & Div. 441. See, Dicey, , op. cit., 1st ed., pp. 118–9.Google Scholar
108. Not until 1927 with the coming into effect of the Legitimacy Act 1926.
109. [1974] 1 W.L.R. 213.
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111. (1887) 36 Ch. D. 400, 407 per Cotton L.J.
112. [1974] 1 W.L.R. 213, 215.
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114. [1968] 1 A.E.R.49.
115. Ibid., p. 58. In most cases it will make no difference which test is applied, as in the present and see, also, Ali v. Ali [1966] 1 A.E.R. 664, 666–67 per Cumming - Bruce J.
116. [1974] 1 W.L.R. 213, 216.
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119. Restatement, Second, s. 19, and comment b. Recommended, Private International Law Committee, 1954, Cmnd. 9068, First Report, rule 13.
120. In re Estate of Jones (1921) 182 N.W. 227.Google Scholar
121. See, Sill v. Worswick (1791), 1 H.B1. 665, 690Google Scholarper Loughborough, Lord; Somerville v. Sommerville (1801), 5 Ves. 750, 787Google Scholarper Arden, M.R.;Ryan v. Ryan (1816), 2 Phill.Ecc. 332, 334Google Scholarper SirNicholl, John; Curling v. Thornton (1823), 2 Add. 6, 15–17Google Scholarper SirNicholl, John; Anderson v. Laneuville (1854), 2 Sp. 41, 55per Dr. Lushington.Google Scholar
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123. Re Tootal's Trusts (1883), 23 Ch.D. 532; Abd-ul-Messih v. Farra (1888), 13 App. Cas. 431Google Scholar; see, also, supra, n. 154. See, now, Casdagli v. Casdagli [1919] A.C. 145. Dicey, , op. cit., 1st ed., p. 88.Google Scholar
124. (1921) 182 N.W. 227.
125. Graveson, , loc.cit., p. 39.Google Scholar
126. See, e.g., Kahn-Freund, (1964), 27 Mod. L.R. 55, 57Google Scholar, “dethrone the superannuated ‘domicile’ concept of English and Scottish Law”.
127. Indyka v. Indyka [1967] 2 A.E.R. 689, 711Google Scholarper Lord Pearce, “until a question of domicile comes before your Lordships' House, one must accept the strict test… and acknowledge the existence of the wide gap that lies between our concept of domicile and that of other countries”.
128. Law Comm. W.P. No. 28, para. 19, “it seems unlikely that any root-and-branch reform of the general law of domicile would be possible at present”. But, cf. para. 37, infra, n. 131, 133.
129. Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, s. 1.
130. Law Comm. W.P. No. 28, para. 5.
131. Ibid., para. 37, viz., to forum shoppers.
132. See, ibid., para. 34 re the disadvantage of nationality as a jurisdiction base in England.
133. Ibid., para. 37; also, Hartley, & Karsten, (1974) 37 Mod. L.R. 179, 183.Google Scholar
134. See, Law Comm. W.P. No. 28, re the objectives of jurisdiction rules, para. 13 (2), “should be such that persons who reasonably regard themselves as belonging to a country should not be excluded by them”.
135. Ibid., para. 48.
136. See, Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations Act 1971, s. 3(1) (b), (2); Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, s. 5.
137. See, Council of Europe, Standardisation of the Legal Concepts of ‘Domicile’ and ‘Residence’, 1972Google Scholar, Resolution (72) 1 and Annex with Explanatory Memorandum: for the text see (1973) 20 Neth. Int. L.K. 213.