header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

The divorce debacle

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
06 November 2014 / Jonathan Herring
Issue: 7629 / Categories: Features , Family
printer mail-detail
herring

Jonathan Herring reports on a rare case of divorce fraud

It is not often that cases on divorce are reported these days. Generally granting divorce is essentially a bureaucratic procedure and defended divorce cases are even rarer than a legal aid certificate in the family law courts. Indeed the government has indicated plans to introduce divorce through the internet at some point in the future.

Front page news

Much media excitement greeted Rapisarda v Colladon [2014] EWFC 35, [2014] All ER (D) 03 (Oct), where Sir James Munby gave the judgment. The case involved “a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice on an almost industrial scale” (para 1). The court needed to consider 180 divorce petitions issued between August 2010 and February 2012 to 137 different county courts from all around the country.

The judgment contains, by way of background, a helpful summary of the divorce procedure in England and Wales: “An application for divorce is made in the English court by an originating process called a petition. The person applying for divorce

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: DNA evidence—justice on ice?
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
NLJ this week: Small firms call for tech clarity as AI looms
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll