MEDIATION AND DIVORCE

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.174-1617.1995.tb00361.x
• Author: Jean Graham Hall,Henrik Andrup
• Published date: 01 April 1995
• Date: 01 April 1995

MEDIATION AND

DIVORCE

The Danish Contribution

Henrik Andrup and Hon. Jean Graham Hall

This article describes the Danish system, tracing its roots from the days when the crown dealt

with all matters involving the family, The role

of

the umtmen in grunting divorce through this

administrative process

is

described.

A

total of

94%

of all divorces in Denmark are handled

through this procedure.

In England and Wales, we

are

still in the process of deciding how to

integrate mediation techniques into the procedures

of

divorce. One question

which has neither been asked nor answered is whether we need to use the

courts’ administration at all where the parties are in agreement on all relevant

matters. In this respect, it is worth looking at the unique and successful Danish

methods of handling applications for divorce and separation.

THE

AMTMAN

The Danish system has its roots in history, through the centuries, from the

time after the Reformation in the country (1536). Absolutist kings allowed

themselves, as acts of Royal grace, to grant divorce and separation licences

to whomsoever they pleased, if the spouses could fulfill certain specified

conditions. Today, Denmark, with a population of 5,145,000, is divided into

14 administrative regions

(“amts”)

and the same system basically prevails.

In

1991,

there were 12,655 divorces.

The Ribe amt, in South Jutland, with a population

of

222,700,

deals with

about 1,000 per annum. The state civil service in the region (the statsamt)

is

housed in Ribe, Denmark’s best preserved medieval town, in quiet, pleasant

buildings. One of the authors worked there for many years, and the other has

paid

a recent visit.

In practice, all cases for separation, which usually

is

dealt with prior

to

a

divorce, normally with the same terms in the licence continuing, begin at the

statsamt. If the spouses are agreed on certain conditions, the process contin-

ues and ends there. The conditions are that the parties:

Editor’s Note:

This article is reprinted with lhepermrssion ofthe publisher

ofJustice

of

the Peace

and Local Government Law,

Little London, ChichesteK Sussex, England.

FAMILY AND CONCILIATION

COURTS

REVIEW,

Vol.

33

No.

2,

April

1995

194-197

1

94