Chinese city limits divorces to 15 a day to help troubled couples 'think again'
City's Civil Affairs Bureau says its quota is to 'help fix more broken families' because of mainland's rising divorce rate, but microbloggers and Xinhua say it is abusing its powers.
A mainland marriage registry office in Xian, Shaanxi Province, has been accused of intruding on the basic rights of couples after setting a daily limit of no more than 15 divorce registrations to try to help couples to “think again”.
The actions of the Civil Affairs Bureau, in Changan District, have been criticised by microbloggers and the state’s official Xinhua News Agency, which claimed yesterday that it had abused its administrative powers and intruded on couples' basic rights by introducing the quota of 15 divorce registrations each day.
Only the first 15 couples to arrive at the Civil Affairs Bureau, in Changan District, after it opened at 8.30am were able to file for a divorce each day, Sanqin Metropolis Daily reported on Friday.
Lin Wenhui, director of the bureau’s marriage office, told the newspaper the quota was introduced in March 2012 to try to “help to fix more broken families” because of the mainland’s rising divorce rate.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs reports that 3.5 million mainland couples filed for divorce last year – a rise of 12.8 per cent compared with 2012.
Some young couples had rushed into getting a divorce after a fight, but the bureau’s daily quota meant they would have extra time to consider their decision, Li said.