Vietnam: Disagree to get divorce because of Christianity

The Judgment on marriage and family No. 38/2018/HNGĐ-ST dated 18 July 2018 on divorce has the following specific contents:

“Ms.TTT and Mr.NVC got married in 1997, 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 for her birth parents' house and did not interact with Mr.C. Now, Ms. TTT determines 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, 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;

…

Accordingly, 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 with a religious person is handled exactly like the 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 where Mr.C disagree to sign the documents related to the divorce, Ms.T has the right to request unilateral divorce if there are grounds such as: the husband commits domestic violence or seriously infringes upon the rights and obligations of the husband or wife; the marriage was seriously deteriorated, their common life no longer impossible and the marriage purposes unachievable. 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 parents' 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 the provisions of Vietnamese law. If the divorce cannot be amicably resolved, the other party has the right to request an unilateral divorce and the settlement process is the same as the normal divorce procedure.

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