The defences which may be set up by the respondent vary according to the cause relied upon by the petitioner, but there is one absolute bar in suits for judicial separations brought on any ground, and that is that the petitioner has committed adultery since the date of the marriage.
Separation Orders.—Besides the ordinary suit to obtain a judicial separation which must be prosecuted in the High Court a wife can obtain speedy and inexpensive relief by making an application to a police magistrate, or a board of magistrates, for a separation order. This remedy is limited to married women whose husbands are domiciled in England or Wales.
Such separation orders are intended to furnish summary relief to the wives of workingmen, and the amount awarded for the wife’s support to be paid by her husband cannot exceed two pounds a week, no matter what the husband’s income may be.
The following are the causes for which, upon application, a magistrate or board of magistrates is authorized to grant a separation order:
1. Habitual drunkenness of the husband, which renders him at times dangerous to himself or others, or incapable of managing himself or his affairs;
2. When the husband has been convicted of an aggravated assault upon his wife, or has been convicted by an Assize or Quarter Sessions Court of an assault and has been sentenced to a fine of more than five pounds or to imprisonment for more than two months;
3. Desertion by the husband of his wife;
4. Persistent cruelty of the husband toward his wife;
5. Neglect to provide reasonable maintenance for wife or infant children.
By the Licensing Act of 1902 a husband is entitled to a separation order by a magistrate or board of magistrates if his wife is an habitual drunkard.