Civil Code (Cap. 16), article 37

37. (1) All suits for personal separation shall be brought before the appropriate section of the Civil Court as may be established by regulations made by the Minister: Provided that prior to the commencement of proceedings, a demand may be made for determining the amount of an allowance for maintenance during the pendency of the proceedings and for the issue of a decree ordering the payment of such allowance or a demand for the court to determine by decree who of the spouses, if any, shall during the pendency of the proceedings continue to reside in the matrimonial home. 20 [CAP. 16. CIVIL CODE (2) The application containing the demand referred to in the proviso to sub-article (1) shall be duly appointed for hearing by the court and shall be served on the respondent together with the n otice of such hearing: Cap. 9. Provided that where domestic violence is involved, the said application shall be appointed within four days and the court m ay, of its own motion before or after hearing the parties, issue a protection order under article 412C of the Criminal Code and, or a treatment order under article 412D of the same Code and the provisions of those articles shall mutatis mutandis apply to an order issued under this article as if it were an order issued under t he corresponding article of the said Code: Cap. 581. Provided further that for the purposes of this article and of article 39, "domestic violence" shall have the same meaning assigned to it by article 2 of the Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act . (3) The court shall summarily hear the applicant and the respondent and shall then, by decree, decide on the demand: Provided that the court may decide on the demand where the applicant or the respondent or both the applicant and the respondent fail to appear o n the day of the hearing. Cap. 12. (4) The decree referred to in sub-article (3) shall be an executive title deemed to be included amongst the decrees mentioned in article 253( a) of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure and shall be enforceable in the same manner and under the same conditions in whic h such acts are executed. (5) The decree referred to in sub-article (3) shall cease to be enforceable if the action for separation is not instituted with in two months of the date of the decree or within such longer period a s the court may in the same or i n a subsequent decree allow. Cap. 12. (6) The provisions of article 381 of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure in pursuance of which a court of contentious jurisdiction may make the order therein specified shall apply, mutatis mutandis , as if the court in that su b-article were a reference to the appropriate section of the Civil Court before which the demand referred to i n the proviso to sub-article (1) is made. (7) The decree and the order mentioned in this article may be only reviewed, altered or revoked upon an application made by t he party seeking such review , alteration or revocation. (8) Subject to the provisions of article 39 of the Constitution , regulations made under this article may provide for the hearing of causes in camera . (9) The provisions of this article shall also apply in cases re lating to maintenance, access, and, or care and custody of children, e ven when the parents are not married. Adultery. Substituted by: XXI.1993.25.