Debated in Parliament on 2 Nov 2020.
Ms Poh Li San asked the Minister for Law for women who have filed for divorce in the past three years, (a) what is the average duration taken respectively for the dissolution of marriage stage and the ancillary matters stage; and (b) how many applications have been made for court orders for the enforcement for maintenance, custody and settlement out of the total number of divorces.
Civil divorces filed in the Family Justice Courts (FJC) may either proceed on the simplified track or the non-simplified track. The average duration taken depends on the track that the divorce application proceeds on.
A divorce proceeds on the simplified track if parties consent to the divorce and agree on all issues relating to the divorce, including the ancillary matters.
The average duration for the dissolution of marriage on the simplified track (i.e. the time taken from the filing of the divorce application to the grant of the interim judgment) for applications filed by women is less than one month. This has been consistent for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The statistics are as follows:
Where the divorce proceeds on the non-simplified track, for applications filed by women in the past three years:
(a) the average duration taken for the dissolution of the marriage ranged from three-and-a-half to four months;
(b) the average duration for the ancillary matters stage (i.e. the time taken from the first ancillary matter hearing to the last ancillary matter hearing) for concluded applications fell from 54 days in 2017 to 12 days in 2019. However, it is to be noted that 2019 figures are subject to update as some of the applications are still ongoing.
(c) the average duration from the filing to the conclusion of the ancillary matters stage for concluded applications fell from 444 days in 2017 to 271 days in 2019. However, it is to be noted that 2019 figures are subject to update as some of the applications are still ongoing.
The statistics are as follows:
The FJC does not collect data on enforcement of maintenance that arises specifically pursuant to divorces. However, the statistics on the total number of applications for enforcement made under section 71 of the Women's Charter are as follows:
Applications for enforcement of custody and those made pursuant to a divorce settlement agreement are typically done by way of contempt proceedings. Data on such applications is not collected. Generally, the instances of such applications are low.
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