The Chamber of Deputies today passed an amendment to the Civil Code that would simplify and speed up divorce and the regulation of custody of children from divorced marriages, starting from next year.
The bill abolishes the requirement to establish the cause of the marriage breakdown, and merges the divorce and child custody proceedings. It will also codify the obligation of parents to ensure that children are brought up without corporal punishment and mental hardship.
The amendment will now be sent to the Senate for consideration.
Under the amendment, it will be possible to obtain a divorce in one court proceeding, if a married couple with a minor child have reached an agreement. If the spouses agree on everything, the process of divorce should be easier in other ways, such as by avoiding mandatory questioning of the spouses.
It will remain the case that if the spouses want to divorce, the court will first have to decide on the child’s post-divorce situation, including in the case of an amicable divorce.
The draft also abolishes the distinction between joint, alternate and single-parent care. It would no longer distinguish between the resident parent, i.e. the parent who has custody of the child, and the non-resident one who has only the right to contact with the child.
Since the divorce of a marriage has no effect on parental responsibility, both parents should continue to have custody of the child, according to the Justice Ministry.
The unacceptability of corporal punishment of children was embedded in the amendment on the basis of requirements of the European Committee on Social Rights, the government said. However, parents will not face new sanctions for corporal punishment.
MP Nina Novakova (KDU-CSL) failed with her proposal to delete this passage as redundant, as she argued the prohibition of excessive corporal punishment is already contained in the current law.
