The decision was made to look at the laws following other changes which saw the introduction of same-sex marriage legislation and moves towards allowing couples the freedom to marry in more places than they currently can.

Among the feedback given in the public consultation was information described by the Policy and Resources as "helpful in offering insight into certain aspects, challenges and complexities with the current approach."

As a result of that feedback P&R said "the initial findings suggested that the grounds for divorce, annulment and judicial separation should be modernised and for the time it takes to divorce without ‘fault’ to be shortened from the current two years with consent and five years without consent for divorce by separation."

The findings also suggested that "consultees did not believe that the divorce process itself was too long, unless referring to divorce by separation. In the main, there was support for simplifying the process, making each step easier to understand and to navigate without legal representation if parties chose to."

Most consultees also said they felt that the costs were too high and said they would support some form of cap or fixed fee arrangement to provide greater certainty on the costs involved.

Deputy Gavin St Pier, President of the Policy & Resources Committee, said, "the review of the matrimonial causes law is an important piece of work, with the reforms ultimately affecting many in our community as they go through a challenging time in their lives. The break-up of a marriage is difficult for all involved and while no one can remove the pain that comes with it, we want to make sure the process removes as much stress as possible under the circumstances."

P&R said that as the States of Jersey are conducting a similar review of their matrimonial causes law with a view to reform, both jurisdictions will share any relevant information gathered by the respective reviews.