Adultery is not reason to file for divorce: Chinese court’s reasoning triggers some to say they just will not get married

An article said because cheaters rarely live with their lovers they fail to meet ‘cohabitation’ standards

However, legal scholars said the claim confused personal freedoms with the responsibilities of Chinese courts

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A court in China was heavily criticised for arguing that adultery was not a good enough reason to file for divorce. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:00am, 5 Jan 2022

A provincial court in eastern China said in an article on Sunday that people cannot file for divorce if they only cite “adultery” as a reason for the break-up, causing a public uproar.

The court in Shandong argued that because most people in affairs do not live with their lovers, cheating fails to meet the “cohabitation” standard that is a part of Chinese divorce laws.

“When a married person is caught cheating, their behaviour is not cohabitation as long as they do not live with the lover for a long, steady period, so their spouses cannot file for divorce for this reason. Furthermore, they cannot use adultery as the reason to request compensation for damages,” the article read.

It continued: “In other words, if you have evidence that your spouse got a room with someone of the opposite gender, you cannot file for a divorce because this is not long cohabitation.”

China implemented a ‘cooling off period’ for divorces in an effort to facilitate reconciliation. Photo: Shutterstock

The article was taken down after the general public heavily criticised it.

In January 2021, China passed a law that established a 30-day cooling-off period for couples who want a divorce. The logic was that they might make up during that period.

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