The Evolution of the Legal Regulation of the Separate Living of Spouses under Family Law on Ukrainian Lands

Abstract

The scientific article investigates the historical aspects of the evolution of legislation on the issues of legal regulation of the separate living of spouses that acted in the Ukrainian lands. In particular, on the basis of a study of the main acts of family law that operated in the Ukrainian lands, the author came to the conclusion that in Ukraine for a long time the legal regime of separate living of spouses existed as an alternative to the termination of marriage in accordance with the canonical norms of the Roman Catholic Church, which did not allow the termination of marriage for any reason other than the death of one of the spouses. This legal institute (called ‘weaning from the table and the lodge’) was introduced in 1563 and generally preserved in Ukraine until 1917 for the spouses of Roman Catholic creed. For the first time at the level of secular family legislation, which operated in the Ukrainian lands, the regulation of the institution of marriage separation was carried out by the Galician Civil Code of 1797. The mentioned legal regime was also mentioned by the Austrian Civil Code and the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, the drafts of the Collection of the Little Russian Rights and the Code of Local Laws of the Western Provinces, but also in the aspect of ‘weaving from the table and lodge’ of Roman Catholic couples. At the same time, the acts of family law of Austria-Hungary provided for a judicial procedure for establishing the regime of separate living of spouses. In its current form, this legal regime was introduced in 1914 for spouses in cases where cohabitation is intolerable due to ill-treatment, abuse, dishonest behaviour, contagious or mental illness. Subsequently, the 1917 marriage decree and the 1919, 1926, and 1969 family codes, adopted during the Ukrainian SSR, did not contain rules on the separation of spouses when regulating divorce. On the other hand, the fact of spousal living was taken into account by the courts during the separation of their property. Subsequently, the institution of marriage separation was returned to the Family law of Ukraine only after the adoption of the current Family Code of Ukraine.