ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some findings from a small qualitative study into the workings of the tribunals from different religions, and the views of those who staff them, in handling religious divorces and annulments. The aim was to explore the relationship between civil and religious law, in order to help fill this evidence gap. The chapter concentrates on how the tribunals handled their work, focusing on their determination of religious marital status; the degree of their interaction with wider social norms and values; and their understanding of their relationship to the state and to civil law. At present, religious annulments and divorces remain completely outside the civil legal system in England and Wales, and none, including Jewish divorces where the Matrimonial Causes Act is invoked to delay the civil decree absolute, is recognised' by the law. The academic and political debates have taken place in the absence of much empirical information about how religious tribunals operate.
