The Pittsburgh Press (April 13, 1941)
VICHY HALTS EASY DIVORCE; FALLING BIRTH RATE CITED
By Paul Ghali
Vichy, April 12 –
France’s divorce code, since Napoleon’s time one of the most liberal in Europe, will be drastically revised, beginning tomorrow, to eliminate grounds cited in most of the 21,000 French divorce actions last year.
In a broadcast to the nation today, Minister of Justice Joseph Barthélemy explained the new regulations.
The new code represents the latest effort of Chief of State Marshal Henri Pétain to halt the country’s falling birth rate and re-establish strong family tradition as the backbone of the new France.
Grounds of “grave injury” – France’s equivalent for “mental cruelty” – which heretofore involved the most trivial misconduct and was most frequently cited, are abolished. Automatic divorce, after a period of legal separation, now will be possible only after three years at the request of the plaintiff. Until now, either party had the privilege to petition for divorce a short time after separation.
These and other provisions of the law are designated to make couples contemplating divorce think twice before starting action. Judges may impose a two-year reconciliation period before even trying a divorce action.
Activities of divorce lawyers will also be strictly controlled and advertisements of quick divorces are now prohibited.
Minister Barthélemy said:
Some fires must be given time to become cinders.