Justice Secretary, David Gauke, has confirmed he will bring new divorce law legislation forward “at the earliest opportunity” following on from an overwhelming response to the consultation.

Following the success of four domestic abuse prosecution measures in three pilot areas, the targeted approach will now be adopted in domestic abuse courts across the country starting this month.

Between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, 455 online divorce applications were lodged in England and Wales. According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), 26 people submitted applications on Christmas Eve, 13 on Christmas Day, 23 people filed on Boxing Day and 77 on New Year’s Day.

The UK Supreme Court has announced that it considers the Widowed Parents’ Allowance to be incompatible with Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, on the basis that it requires claimants to have been married to their spouse and offers no protection to unmarried couples. This has come to light after an unmarried mother from Northern Ireland – Siobhan McLaughlin – was refused bereavement payments following the death of her partner who she had four children with. Ms McLaughlin has now won a ruling from the Supreme Court that such legislation breaches human rights law.

Evidence from the National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) suggests that reports of domestic violence increased sharply during the 2018 World Cup tournament, despite England’s success. The charity received 2,619 reports of domestic violence between the 1st and 10th July this year - an increase of 500 when compared with a similar 10-day period before the competition began.