Section 9: Proceedings before divorce order has been made final: general powers of court.

Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 · 1973 c.18

Part I: Divorce, Nullity and Other Matrimonial Suits

9(1)

Where a divorce order has been made but not made final, then, without prejudice to section 8 above, any person (excluding a party to the proceedings other than the Queen's Proctor) may show cause why the order should not be made final by reason of material facts not having been brought before the court; and in such a case the court may—

(a) notwithstanding anything in section 1(4) above (but subject to section 10(2) to (4) ... below) make the order final; or

(b) rescind the order; or

(c) require further inquiry; or

(d) otherwise deal with the case as it thinks fit.

9(2)

Where a divorce order has been made on an application by one party to a marriage and that party has not applied for the order to be made final, then, at any time after the expiration of three months from the earliest date on which that party could have made such an application, the other party to the marriage may make an application to the court, and on that application the court may exercise any of the powers mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (1) above.

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This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.