EFFECTS OF DIVORCEMENT.--Each of the parties receives one-half of the common property, but agreements are permitted by which the man retains all such property on condition of paying the woman an annual allowance.

The duty of mutual a.s.sistance ceases, although if justice demands the man may be ordered to pay alimony to the woman. The Norwegian law contains no hard-and-fast rule as to the custody of the children of divorced parents.

When no agreement exists between the parties the innocent party is generally given custody of all the children.

A woman who obtains a decree of divorce against her husband is allowed to retain the name and rank of her ex-husband.

SEPARATION.--A separation from bed and board may be granted either on the mutual consent of both parties, or by royal decree on the pet.i.tion of one of the parties if reasonable grounds exist.

CHAPTER XV.

THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.

There have always been plenty of laws in Russia, the chief difficulty being not with the quant.i.ty but the quality. Another perplexing feature of Muscovite laws is the uncertainty of this patchwork of royal decrees, undefined traditions, changing customs and priestly superst.i.tions.

If Peter the Great had lived long enough he would probably have given Russia a regular code such as Napoleon bequeathed to France, but he was too busy during his career with wars, travels and social reforms.

The Emperor Nicholas I. is ent.i.tled to the credit of being the first Russian sovereign to direct the compilation of anything approaching a cla.s.sified legal code, and under his authority the jurist Speransky collected together some forty volumes. This code, as revised from time to time, is the best exposition obtainable of the law of the Empire. Its first article, however, qualifies the entire code by recognizing the Tsar's privilege of altering or setting aside any law of the realm at will.

Until recently the first lesson for the Russian law student to learn was expressed in the doctrine: _Quod principi placuit, legis habet vigorem_.

"The sovereign's pleasure has the force of law."

Many reforms have of late years been worked in Russian law and judicial procedure, but in these matters Russia is still a long way off from justifying the belief expressed by Count Mouravieff, that this country has a civilizing mission such as no other nation of the world, not only in Asia, but also in Europe.

Such benefits as can be derived from the law are still more for the privileged cla.s.ses than for the great body of the people, and the point has not yet been reached of subst.i.tuting judicial trials for ecclesiastical in matrimonial causes.

The regulations concerning marriage and divorce fall within the province of the clergy and the ecclesiastical courts, except that the civil tribunals have jurisdiction over annulment and divorce for the _Raskolniken_, or "Old Believers," and for the Baptists and some other dissenters from the State Church of Russia.

With the exceptions noted, the regulations of each form of religious belief, including Mohammedanism and other non-Christian beliefs, are endorsed by the State as the law for the adherents of that belief. The civil courts, however, have jurisdiction over the civil effects of marriage and divorce, and the State law contains certain provisions binding on the adherents of all religious confessions.

The regulations governing the Roman Catholics are, in general, those of the canon law and those governing the German Lutherans are those of the old Protestant common law of Germany.

We shall consider the special regulations affecting the Jews in a separate division of this chapter.

MARRIAGE.--A man reaches marriageable age upon the completion of his eighteenth year and a woman upon the completion of her sixteenth year; natives of Transcaucasia, however, may marry at the completion of the fifteenth and thirteenth years, respectively.

A marriage cannot take place without the free and mutual consent of the princ.i.p.als. The exercise of any kind of compulsion is forbidden to parents or guardians.

Without regard to their age children require the consent of their parents.

In most parts of Russia there is no appeal in case a parent withholds consent. Marriage without parental consent is not invalid, but the guilty person is liable to a penalty of from four to eight months' imprisonment, on pet.i.tion of the parent, and to the loss of his right of inheritance in the property of the parent.

Persons who are under guardianship or curatorship require the consent of their guardian or curator.

CONSANGUINITY AND AFFINITY.--The prohibited degrees of consanguinity are determined according to the principles of the religious body to which the parties belong. Marriage is, however, universally prohibited between persons who are related in the first or second degree.

DIFFERENCE OF RELIGION.--Marriage between Christians and non-Christians is prohibited, except between Lutherans, adherents of the Reformed Church, and other Protestants on the one hand, and Jews and Mohammedans on the other.

INSANITY.--Marriage is absolutely prohibited to insane persons.

OFFICIAL PERMISSION.--Civil officials require the consent of their superiors in order to marry.

HOLY ORDERS.--Marriage is prohibited to the clergy of the State Church, but if a secular priest is already married before ordination he may continue in that relation. The practice is for the majority of men who intend to enter the secular priesthood to marry before ordination.

ADVANCED AGE.--Persons who have attained the age of eighty years may not marry.

FOURTH MARRIAGE.--The contracting of a fourth marriage is unconditionally forbidden.

PRELIMINARY FORMALITIES.--A male member of the Russian Church, or an "Old Believer," who intends marriage, must, from one to three weeks before the date of celebration, announce the fact to the clergyman in whose parish he resides, and bring to him the certificates of baptism of himself and his intended bride, certificates of their social status, proofs of ident.i.ty and a certificate that both parties have been to confession and received holy communion. With these doc.u.ments and proofs at hand the clergyman announces the names of the betrothed parties on three successive Sundays or feast days. The marriage cannot be concluded without a certificate showing that all the formalities have been complied with.

CELEBRATION.--A marriage may be solemnized in accordance with the rules of the religious sect of the parties, before one of its clergymen, with the personal partic.i.p.ation of the contracting parties and in the presence of competent witnesses. For members of the Russian Church the solemn betrothal, which formerly took place some time previous to the marriage, now introduces the wedding ceremony. The latter must follow the prescribed ritual exactly. The wedding must take place in church, during the daytime, before adult witnesses, and the contracting parties must be actually present.

ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN.--The subsequent marriage of the parents does not in itself legitimatize such offspring. After their marriage the parents must pet.i.tion the court for an order of legitimacy.

ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGE.--Any marriage is null that was not solemnized by a clergyman of the religious sect of which one of the contracting parties is an adherent, except those solemnized before a priest of the Russian Church, because of the absence of a clergyman of the proper religious sect. A marriage is also null in case of bigamy, difference of religion and violation of the rules concerning consanguinity and affinity.

DIVORCE.--It is impossible for an adherent of the Russian Church or for an "Old Believer" to obtain a decree of absolute divorce.

The grounds for an absolute divorce for other persons except Jews are:

1. Adultery.

2. Bigamy.

3. Impotence existing at time of marriage.

4. Absence without news for five years.

5. Condemnation to the loss of all civil rights.

6. Banishment to Siberia with the loss of all special rights. Either party may pet.i.tion for divorce on this ground.

7. Entrance of both spouses into a religious order, provided they have no children who need their support and care.

8. Conversion of a non-Christian to the Russian Church, provided he or his consort desires such divorcement.

PROCEDURE.--In the case of a Christian who is not an "Old Believer" or a member of the Russian Church, the pet.i.tion for divorce is filed in the ecclesiastical court. After this the bishop designates a clergyman, who is to make an attempt to reconcile the parties. Not until this attempt has failed is notice served on the defendant and the day set for a hearing of the cause. If the court decides in favour of a divorce, the decree must be submitted to the Synod for revision. In case of condemnation to the loss of civil rights, a divorce is granted immediately.

If the ground relied on is the conversion of a non-Christian to the Russian Church, the divorce is granted merely on the formal declaration of one of the spouses that he or she does not wish to continue the marriage.

EFFECTS OF DIVORCE.--The adjustment of the personal and property rights and the custody of the children are matters entirely for the discretion of the tribunal.

LAW FOR LUTHERANS.--Members of the Lutheran Church outside of Finland are governed by special regulations concerning the grounds for divorce. These grounds are:

1. Adultery.

2. Unlawful relation with a third party before the marriage, though in the case of the husband only such relations subsequent to the betrothal are considered.