Disagree to divorce because of Christianity in Vietnam

The Marriage and Family Judgment No. 38/2018/HNGĐ-ST dated July 18, 2018 on divorce has the following specific content:

“Ms. TTT and Mr. NVC got married in 1997, and registered their marriage after living together for about 3 to 4 months, Ms. T felt that she was not suitable for Mr. C, so she left her parents' house to live and did not interact with Mr. C. Now, Ms. TTT has determined that the husband and wife's feelings do not exist, so she asks for a divorce from Mr. C so that both of them can settle down.

Mr. C determined that he and Ms. T did not have feelings, but because Mr. C was a Christian, he did not sign documents and papers related to the divorce.

The People's Court of Chuong My District, Hanoi City accepted Ms. TTT to divorce Mr. NVC.

Christians always uphold the doctrine of "marriage is eternal", so they do not accept divorce between husband and wife. However, according to the current Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam, no one has the right to prohibit divorce.

Article 5. Protection of the marriage and family regime

1. 

2. The following acts are prohibited:

...

e/ Forcing a person into divorce; deceiving a person into divorce; obstructing divorce;

According to that, the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 of Vietnam stipulates that preventing divorce is one of the prohibitions of the law. All individuals, regardless of religion or belief, are equal and have the right to divorce. Divorce from a religious person is handled in exactly the same way as a normal divorce procedure.

Article 56. Divorce at the request of one spouse

1. When a spouse requests a divorce and the conciliation at a court fails, the court shall permit the divorce if it has grounds to believe that a spouse commits domestic violence or seriously infringes upon the rights and obligations of the husband or wife, which seriously deteriorates the marriage and makes their common life no longer impossible and the marriage purposes unachievable.

Therefore, in this case, Mr. C does not agree to sign documents and papers related to the divorce, Ms. T has the right to request a unilateral divorce when there are grounds such as: the husband commits acts of domestic violence or seriously violates the rights and obligations of husband and wife; married life fell into a serious situation, cohabitation could not last, the purpose of marriage was not achieved. According to the presentation of Ms. T and Mr. C, after getting married, the two lived together for a short time, about 3 to 4 months, then Ms. T returned to her parent's house to live. Thus, the marriage of two people cannot be repaired. Considering that, the Court accepted that Ms. T's divorce from Mr. C was reasonable.

Although the marriage relationship is with a Christian, as a citizen of Vietnam, it is necessary to comply with Vietnamese law. If the divorce cannot be amicably resolved, the other party has the right to request a unilateral divorce and the settlement process is the same as the normal divorce procedure.

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