(South Africa) A husband had been convicted of drugs offences in South Africa and after serving a period of imprisonment was deported to the United States of America. The wife then applied in South Africa for leave to sue her husband for restitution of conjugal rights or for divorce.
Held: The court had no jurisdiction: ‘A person, it is true, may select any place he likes as his domicile, provided, says the Digest (50, 1, 31), it has not been prohibited for him . . Now in the present case the husband cannot have a true domicile in fact in South Africa; he is liable to instant punishment and deportation if he returns.’
Judges:
Mason J
Citations:
1915 WLD 29
Cited by:
Followed – Ex parte Gordon 1937
(South Africa) The applicant’s husband had been deported. The wife sought relief.
Held: The effect of the deportation was to extinguish the husband’s domicile, and the court no longer had jurisdiction. . .
Cited – Mark v Mark HL 30-Jun-2005
The petitioner sought to divorce her husband. Both were Nigerian nationals, and had married under a valid polygamous marriage in Nigeria. She claimed that the courts had jurisdiction because of her habitual residence here despite the fact that her . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Commonwealth
Updated: 13 May 2022; Ref: scu.228177