THE DIVORCE LAW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19032, 1 June 1925, Page 11

THE DIVORCE LAW.

QUESTION OF DOMICILE. THE CHIEF JUSTICE'S OPINION. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON Saturday. One of the difficulties that occasionally arises in divorce suits is that of the domicile of the parties. The Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, in a judgment made available this morning, commenting on a case, Olsen v. Olsen—petitioner having been deserted by her husband, who is supposed to be in America—stated: "In America, no doubt, a person who is deserted as the petitioner has been can choose a domicile of her own. Our law has not advanced to that stage, although I do not see why the New Zealand Parliament should not make provision regarding domicile. I know that some jurists in New Zealand think that the New Zealand Parliament has no such power, just the same as some jurists thought they had no power to deal with bigamy if the crime is committed outside New Zealand territory. In my opinion the time has come when the Governments of the Dominions must be assumed to have all the powers that are necessary for the order and good government of the 1 Dominions. It cannot be said that it is not necessary for the order and good government of New Zealand that women residents in New Zealand should be deprived of the right to obtain a divorce on the ground that their husband has deserted them and is living in another domicile. In New Zealand our law has been altered to this extent that if a deserted wife is domiciled in New Zealand at the time of the desertion she shall be deemed for purpose of the Act to have retained her New Zealand domicile, notwithstanding that her husband may since the desertion have acquired any foreign domicile."