Owens V Owens Supreme court hearing begins.

Owens v Owens Supreme Court hearing begins 17 May The Supreme Court will hear the wife’s appeal against the Court of Appeal judgment in Owens v Owens [2017] EWCA Civ 182 on Thursday, 17 May. The hearing – before Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Wilson, Lord Hodge and Lady Black – is scheduled to last one day. The parties were married in 1978 and separated in February 2015. The appellant wife filed a petition for divorce in May 2015 contending that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. The petition was based on the respondent husband’s behaviour, which the wife argued meant she could not reasonably be expected to live with him within the meaning of s 1(2)(b) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, and she gave particulars of incidents, which included occasions where the husband was alleged to have made disparaging or hurtful remarks to her in front of third parties. The husband defended the case and argued at the trial that the examples given of his behaviour were not such as to satisfy the requirements of s 1(2)(b). The judge agreed and dismissed the petition. The first instance decision was upheld on appeal. Resolution will be heard as interveners in the case. For the Court of Appeal judgment, click here. The hearing can be viewed by visiting the Supreme Court website.