ARBITRATING MATRIMONIAL DISPUTES IN INDIA
Downloads
Abstract
As the name suggests, matrimonial arbitrations deal with matrimonial disputes like divorce, separation, restitution, custody etc., and such disputes could have arisen before or after a divorce. When both spouses agree to submit to arbitration, the decision or award of the arbitrator becomes final and binding, and the parties are bound to obey it. Parties often draw out elaborate arbitration agreements indicating their willingness to arbitrate, incase of a dispute, and the agreement includes among other things, the name of the arbitrator, powers of the arbitrator, and the dispute referred to arbitration. In India, matrimonial disputes are not arbitrable. In Booz Allen and Hamilton Vs. SBI Home Finance Limited and others, the Supreme Court laid down the scope of arbitrable issues. The Court noted that matrimonial disputes relating to divorce, judicial separation, restitution of conjugal rights and child custody are non-arbitrable.
This article will provide a comparative perspective of matrimonial arbitrations. The first part will discuss matrimonial arbitrations in India. The second part will discuss the matrimonial arbitration laws of three other countries i.e. United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Australia. The third part will discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of matrimonial arbitrations. The fourth and concluding part will evaluate the scope of matrimonial arbitrations, and will propose a workable solution for the arbitration of matrimonial disputes in India.
External References to this Article
Loading reference data...
License Terms
Ownership and Licensing:
Authors of research papers submitted to any journal published by The Law Brigade Publishers retain the copyright of their work while granting the journal specific rights. Authors maintain ownership of the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. Simultaneously, authors agree to license their research papers under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License.
License Permissions:
Under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License, others are permitted to share and adapt the work, even for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given to the authors, and acknowledgment is made of the initial publication by The Law Brigade Publishers. This license encourages the broad dissemination and reuse of research papers while ensuring that the original work is properly credited.
Additional Distribution Arrangements:
Authors are free to enter into separate, non-exclusive contractual arrangements for distributing the published version of the work (e.g., posting it to institutional repositories or publishing it in books), provided that the original publication by The Law Brigade Publishers is acknowledged.
Online Posting:
Authors are encouraged to share their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) both prior to submission and after publication. This practice can facilitate productive exchanges and increase the visibility and citation of the work.
Responsibility and Liability:
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted research papers do not infringe on the copyright, privacy, or other rights of third parties. The Law Brigade Publishers disclaims any liability for any copyright infringement or violation of third-party rights within the submitted research papers.
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright © 2026 by Prarthana Chigateri
The copyright and license terms mentioned on this page take precedence over any other license terms mentioned on the article full text PDF or any other material associated with the article.
