Towards No Fault Divorce in Anglophone Cameroon: The Applicability of the English Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (DDSA) 2020

Irene Ngum Asanga

doi:10.55662/JLSR.2025.11303

Authors

Irene Ngum Asanga Associate Professor Author

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55662/JLSR.2025.11303

Keywords:

The English Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (DDSA) 2020, Matrimonial Causes Act (MCA)

Abstract

The English Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (DDSA) 2020, which came into force in April 2022, made some amendments to the Matrimonial Causes Act (MCA) 1973, which has been the applicable Law in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon in matters of Divorce. According to the unamended MCA 1973, divorce could only be granted on the sole ground of irretrievable breakdown of a marriage, to be proven by several facts, most of which are fault-based, contained in Sections 1(2) (a) to (e). The 2020 DDSA cannot be applicable in its entirety in Anglophone Cameroon because part of it deals with homosexual marriages. The part of the 2020 DDSA amending the MCA 1973 has introduced no-fault divorce in England. There is controversy in Anglophone Cameroon as to the applicability of the 2020 DDSA. The continuous application of current English legislation is based on Section 15 of the Southern Cameroons High Court Law, 1955, as read in conjunction with Section 68 of the Constitution. This paper examines the extent to which the 2020 DDSA has been received and its applicability in light of constitutional provisions, customary laws, and case law. It argues that no-fault divorce is not appropriate within an African and more particularly, a Cameroonian system of personal law. It brings out the lack of unanimity in the application of the DDSA in Anglophone Cameroon and posits that it is repugnant to the constitution. The enabling statute (Section 15 of the Southern Cameroons High Court Law 1955) for its application does not equally make it mandatory for Anglophone Cameroon.

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References

See V.G. Fanso (1989) “Cameroon History, vol. 2, the colonial and post-colonial periods”, Macmillan Cameroon; Charles Manga Fombad, Researching Cameroonian Law, P.5, www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Cameroon.html. Accessed on 20/12/2024

British Northern Cameroons voted in a plebiscite to join the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

See Nigeria Constitution Order –in-council of 1st October 1954, Section 1 1954, No. 1146 ss 3 (1), 5 (5) and 124.

S.C. No. 7 of 26 Nov. 1955 and Mag. Courts (SC) Law, L.S. No. 6 of 27. October 1955.

This is to be understood in the narrow sense as referring to the judge-made law of England to be found in binding precedents of superior courts. This law, known as Common Law, developed in England after the Norman Conquest by itinerant judges and later, judgments administered in established courts.

Nzalie, Joseph Ebi, The Law on Succession to Property in Anglophone Cameroon, 2nd Edition, (2022) Trinity Printers Bamenda, P.13, fn. 44

Law No.96/06 of 18th January 1996 as amended by Law N0. 2008/001 of 14 April 2008,

(1910) 2 N.L.R., 1. Cited by Nzalie, Joseph Ebi, op. Cit. P. 14.

Probate, in this context, has been interpreted to mean 'succession law' in general.

Egute, Matthew Amandong, The Extent of the Application of English Laws in the Cameroonian Legal System, International Journal of Social Sciences and Human Research (IJSSHR), (2023), Vol. 06, Issue 05, PP. 2927-2935, 2932. https://www.ijsshr.in/v6i5/Doc/53.pdf. Accessed on 07/02/2024

Section 12 (c) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973

Essama, Pierrette Mekongo, Reflections on the Continuous Application of "Foreign Law" in Former West Cameroon, Revue Africaine des Reflexions Juridiques et Politiques, 2024, 3 (2) PP. 34-62, at 46-47. https://hal.science/hal-04487505. Accessed on 12/08/2024

Section 3 (1) of the Southern Cameroons High Court Law 1955

Acha –Morfaw épouse Ghogomu Dorothy Lekeaka, The Complexities and Inequalities of the Laws of Divorce in Cameroon and How These Can Be Overcome, (2018) Thesis, University of London, P.60

Section 30: "The high court shall have appellate jurisdiction to hear and determine all appeals from the decisions of magistrates' courts in civil and criminal causes and matters given in the exercise of the original jurisdiction of the said courts as well as cases stated by magistrates in accordance with the provisions of this law or of any other written law." Part IV of the Southern Cameroons High Court Law covers the appellate jurisdiction of the High Court.

Section 32, SCHCL 1955

Ordinance N° 72/4 of 26th August 2006 was amended by Law No. 89/019 of 29th December 1989 and subsequently, by Law No. 90/058 of 19th December 1990 on judicial organization.

Cameroon has ten administrative regions, two of which are English-speaking. It is further divided into regions, subdivisions and districts. There are currently fifty-eight (58) administrative divisions in Cameroon.

There are seven divisions in the North West region (Boyo, Bui, Donga-Mantung, Menchum, Mezam, Momo and Ngoketunjia); and six in the South West region (Fako, Kupe-Manenguba, Lebialem, Manyu, Meme and Ndian).

This Act introduced same-sex marriages and is therefore not applicable in Cameroon

Judith Masson et al, Cretney Principles of Family Law, (2008), 8th edition, London: Sweet & Maxwell, P. 286

See the Marriage (Same Sex Couples). Act 2013

See Section 2 of the DDSA 2020, amending section 17 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973; new Section 1(A) and 1 (B) respectively.

Section 1 of the 2020 DDSA modifying section 1 (1) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 reads: “Subject to section 3, either or both parties to a marriage may apply to the court for an order (a “divorce order”) which dissolves the marriage on the ground that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

DDSA

2020 DDSA (c11) Schedule, Section 6, Minor and Consequential amendments, Part 1, Section 6

S.L.R. 11 (2022) supra

Suit Number HCF/117/MC/2023/IM-2021, RLG No. HCF/035/MC/2024 – Unreported Case of the Buea High Court.

Suit No: HCF/221/MC/2023/1M-2024, JGT No. HCF/030/MC/2024 (unreported)

Suit Number HCF/145/MC/2024, Judgment No. HCF/017/MC/2023- Unreported Judgment of the High Court of Fako in Buea

HCMB/039MC/2024, Judgment No. 078/CIVMC/2024 (Unreported). Judgment of the High Court of Mezam Division in Bamenda

Suit No: HCMB/074MC/2023, Judgment No. 023CIVMC/2024

Suit No: HCMB/039MC/2023 (unreported).

Suit No: HCMB/016MC/2022; Judgment No. 045/MC/2022 of 13/05/2022 (unreported). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2022/05/045

Ibid, P.3

Suit No: HCMB/178MC/2022; Judgment No: 009/MC/2024 (unreported)

Suit No: HCMB/096MC/2023; Judgment No:010/CIV/M/2024 of 24/01/2024 (unreported)

Suit No: HCMB/171 MC/2023; Judgment No. 015/CIVM/2024 of 02/02/2024 (unreported)

Suit No: HCMB/121MC/2022; Judgment No.002/CIVMC/2024. See also Yaya Odilia Kuntumvava Mama v. Lukumanu Tangunu (Suit No: HCBM/158MC/20222; Judgment No.05/CIVM/2023 of 03/02/2023 based on behavior (Section 1 (2) (b) MCA 1973).

Suit No: HCMB/115MC/2022; Judgment No. 030/CIVMC/2023 (unreported)

Suit No: HCMB/224MC/2022; Judgment No.03/Mc/2023 of 02/02/2023 (unreported).

Suit No: HCMB/211Mc/2022; Ruling No. 06/CIVMC/2023 of 15/02/2023 (unreported)

Suit No: HCBM/203MC/2022; Judgment No. 033/CIVMC/2024 of 13/03/2024 (unreported)

On its terms.

Maynard v. Hill, 125 US. 190,205 (1888). Cited by Peter N. Swisher in Marriage and Some Troubling Issues with No Fault Divorce, (2005) 17 Regent U.L. Rev. 243-259, https://www.regent.edu/acad/schlaw/student_life/studentorgs/lawreview/docs/issues/v17n2/swisher. Accessed on 19/08/2024

Ibid. P. 246.

Viktoria Parisot, Performing the Bad Marriage? The Transition from a Troubled to a Troubling Family in the Course of Fault Divorce in the 21st Century (2021) Social Sciences 10:464, https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10120464. P. 1. Accessed on 20/08/2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10120464

Ibid, P.2

Ira Mark Ellman and Sharon L.Lohr, (1998), Dissolving the Relationship Between Divorce Law and Divorce Rates, International Review of Law & Economics, Vol. 18, P.341-359, 342. Ssrn-1465709. Accessed on 20/06/2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0144-8188(98)00014-3

Ibid

About 230 different ethnic groups exist in Cameroon

Section 49 of Law No. 2024/016 of 23rd December 2024 to organize the civil status registration system in Cameroon.

Monono v. Monono, CS N0 81/87-88 p. 70 –unreported. Cited by E.N. Ngwafor, Family Law in Anglophone Cameroon, (1993) The University of Regina Press, P.150, f.n. 23.

Acha-Morfaw épouse Ghogomu Dorothy Lekeaka, The Complexities and Inequalities of the Laws of Divorce in Cameroon and How These Can Be Overcome (2018), P. 146

Article 47 of the Cameroon Constitution

Acha-Morfaw épouse Ghogomu Dorothy Lekeaka, The Complexities and Inequalities of the Laws of Divorce in Cameroon and How These Can Be Overcome (2018), op. Cit. P. 147

Section 47 (2) of the Constitution

Amended in 2011 by Law No. 2011/011 of 6th May 2011

Section 129

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