different types of marriage, whether on racial or religious lines, are inherently unpalatable to a modern society (especially a cosmopolitan society such as that of Hong Kong) and ought not in any circumstances to form the basis of fresh legislation. The aim of the proposed legislation should be the creation of a single, unified system of matrimonial law that would take into account the needs of the community as a whole.
Accordingly the Sub-Committee concluded that the only acceptable solution to the problem of Chinese marriages in the Colony would be the abolition of the present distinctions between different types of marriage (except insofar as people may already have acquired rights under them), and the intro- duction of a single form of civil marriage applicable to all persons in the Colony, regardless of race or creed. It is recommended that the legal recognition of all future marriages would depend on the fact of registration, though people would be free to follow, in addition, such religious or traditional forms as they might care to. No marriage would be regarded as legal unless it was registered, and all registered marriages would be subject to the full matrimonial jurisdiction of the courts.
The Sub-Committee further recommended that the interests of the community as a whole would best be served if all marriages were made dissoluble by consent as well as on the grounds of divorce or nullity now available in the courts. The traditional Chinese forms of unilateral divorce, however, should be abolished.
Divorce by consent should be available subject to stringent safeguards of the interests of wives and children, which would have to be applied by the courts if they were to be really effective, and the Sub-Committee recommended
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