‘The case of Owens v Owens rocked the legal world in late July, when the Supreme Court decided that Tini Owens could not divorce her husband, despite the court recognising that this could leave her “trapped in an unhappy marriage.” Her husband, Hugh John Owens, had sought to defend against Mrs Owens’ petition for divorce on the grounds that “although never emotionally intense, the marriage had been successful and that he and Mrs Owens had learnt how to “rub along”. In ruling against Mrs Owens, Lord Wilson said the decision “generates uneasy feelings” and suggested that Parliament should consider statutory change. Yet, bearing in mind that statutory change may take some time, is the right to leave an unhappy marriage not also a human right?’
Oxford Human Rights Hub, 27th August 2018
Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk
