評論
打印
Divorce
離婚
Work to rule
依法力爭
England becomes a slightly worse place for idle ex-wives
英格蘭不再是那些懶散前妻們的理想之地
ENGLAND has long been the jurisdiction of choice for wives who have the luxury of being able to choose where they divorce. English law (Scotland is different) tries to balance lifelong need and fairness. The poorer partner—typically a wife bringing up children—can expect housing and many years of income, especially if she has sacrificed her career for the marriage.
英格蘭一直以來都是妻子們垂青的轄區(qū)，因為她們有可選擇在何處離婚的特權(quán)。英國法律（和蘇格蘭法律不同）試圖平衡終身需求與公平。夫妻中較為貧窮的一方（尤其是帶著孩子的母親）有希望得到住宿問題的解決和多年的收入，特別是那些為了婚姻犧牲事業(yè)的女性。
A court ruling on February 23rd has nonetheless continued a recent trend of tilting the balance a little towards husbands. Tracey Wright objected to her ex-husband's bid to cut her 75,000 ($116,000) annual maintenance, awarded after an 11-year marriage failed in 2008. She argued that she was too busy with the two children (one at boarding school, the other, aged ten, at home) even to look for work. She lost, on appeal. Lord Justice Pitchford said Mr Wright's payments should taper off as he neared retirement and that his ex-wife should get a job.
但是2月23日法院判決近期這種平衡要略微要丈夫一方傾斜。特雷西·懷特反對她前夫請求減少每年給她的75000英鎊（約合116000美元），這是自她于2008年結(jié)束了11年的婚姻之后的贍養(yǎng)費。她聲稱因為太忙于照顧兩個孩子（一個在寄宿學(xué)校，另一個年僅十歲，留在家中）甚至無暇顧及工作。她為此上訴卻敗訴了。上訴法院法官皮特福德稱懷特先生因為快要退休，所以贍養(yǎng)費應(yīng)該減少，而他的前妻則應(yīng)該自己找一份工作。
The ruling is a legal landmark chiefly because it sets out a mother's duty at least to have to seek a job as her children grow older. As David Hodson, a specialist lawyer, notes, that principle has long applied to poor women when it comes to claiming welfare benefits. But an ex-wife will still be able to argue that no suitable work is available for her and that she needs her ex-husband's help in order to keep up her own and her children's living standards. Such arguments would cut little ice in most other countries.
這項規(guī)定是法律上的里程碑，主要是因為它制定了母親的責(zé)任，至少是她們在孩子長大一些后自己找到一份工作。一位專業(yè)律師戴維·霍德森提到，規(guī)則一直以來都是在貧窮婦女聲討生活福利之時體現(xiàn)其效力。但是某位前妻仍能打著沒有合適工作的旗號，借此向前夫她索要贍養(yǎng)費以保證她和孩子們的生活水平。這種理由在大多數(shù)其他國家都不起什么作用。
The ruling will not dent London's attraction as a global centre for divorce. English divorce law, with its bespoke solutions reached after costly legal wrangling, is also likely to remain a luxury service, out of reach to all but the very rich.
這一規(guī)定仍不會削弱倫敦作為全球離婚中心的吸引力。伴著高昂的法律糾紛費用之后的定制解決方案，英國的離婚法律同樣很可能成為一項奢侈服務(wù)，非富貴之人不可承受。譯者：邵夏沁 校對：張娣
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