Joan Gallacher Alexander v. Ronald William Alexander

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG

DIVORCE JURISDICTION

ACTION NO. 267 OF 1971

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BETWEEN

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Coram : Briggs J. in Court

Date: 26 February 1972

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J U D G M E N T 

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1. This is an undefended petition for divorce brought by the Petitioner, the wife on the ground of cruelty.

2. The parties were married on March 25, 1969 in Scotland. There are no children of the family.

2. It is probable that the Respondent husband is domiciled in Scotland. But the Petitioner claims to have a substantial connexion with Hong Kong so as to enable the Court to exercise its jurisdiction to grant a decree of divorce under the provisions of Section 3(1) of the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance (Cap. 179).

3. The Petitioner was born in the United Kingdom in 1945. In the following year her parents came to Hong Kong bringing her with them. The parents of the Petitioner have made Hong Kong their permanent home and still live here.

4. The Petitioner was educated in Hong Kong and except for short holiday periods remained ordinarily resident in Hong Kong till 1965. In that year she went to the United Kingdom, met the Respondent and married him.

5. The marriage was unhappy and in 1969 the Petitioner, because of the conduct of the Respondent, left him and returned to live with her parents in Hong Kong.

6. She has lived here ever since. She holds a position with a well-known Bank in Hong Kong, and intends to remain in Hong Kong indefinitely. She holds a Hong Kong Identity Card. And since she has spent most of her life in Hong Kong she considers herself a “citizen” of Hong Kong. The Petition was filed on September 1, 1971.

7. There is no doubt in my mind that in these circumstances the Petitioner had a “substantial connexion with Hong Kong at the date of the Petition” and comes within the ambit of Section 3(1) of the Ordinance.

8. There was ample evidence of the grounds relied upon for the divorce. The Petitioner asks for the discretion of the Court to be exercised in her favour.

9. I exercise the discretion of the Court in favour of the Petitioner in respect of her adultery. There will be a decree nisi for cruelty. And for reasons disclosed in the discretion statement of the Petitioner, there will be leave to make the decree nisi absolute forthwith.

R. Mills-Owens (Johnson, Stokes & Master) for Petitioner.