Tuvalu Island Courts Bench Book - Federal Court of Australia

3.3 How a Divorce Case Gets to Court
The Matrimonial Causes (Magistrates’ Court) Rules (Cap 21) set out how procedures for
divorce proceedings.
Proceedings are begun by petition. The petition will follow Form 1 and must identify:
• name /address of both parties;
• occupations of the petitioner;
• maiden name of wife;
• if relevant, the name, address and occupation of person whom the respondent is alleged to
have committed adultery with;
• place of marriage;
• place of domicile;
• that the marriage has completely broken down;
• the facts, and the grounds upon which the parties are relying on to obtain a divorce;
• that there are no previous proceedings in relation to the marriage. Any previous
proceedings, whether they have taken place in or out of Tuvalu, should be stated here:
rr5, 6 Matrimonial Causes (Magistrates’ Court) Rules (Cap 21).
The petitioner shall then:
• sign and date the petition on the date that it is filed;
• present it for filing by the Clerk of the Court, along with 2 copies and the marriage
certificate (or a certified copy): r8 Matrimonial Causes (Magistrates’ Court) Rules (Cap
21).
Once the petition has been filed, the Clerk of the Court will issue a summons for hearing of the
petition, which sets out the time and place for the hearing.
A copy of the petition and the summons should be served personally on every party set out in the
petition, through the Court, in not less than 8 full days before the hearing.
In exceptional cases the Court may:
• determine that it is not practical to personally serve the petition and summons and may
order another method of service such as a newspaper advertisement: r11(4) Matrimonial
Causes (Magistrates’ Court) Rules (Cap 21);
• dispense with the time limit.
If one party does not attend at the hearing, then proof of service will be necessary by the person
who served the petition: r14 Matrimonial Causes (Magistrates’ Court) Rules (Cap 21).
Tuvalu Island Courts Bench Book June 2004