Author(s): Benjamin Enow Agbor

Abstract: Cameroon’s colonial heritage has shaped the legal landscape and made it possible for the application of English Law in the Anglophone Regions by virtue of the Southern Cameroons High Court Law 1955. In matters of divorce, the country has witnessed several amendments of the laws which have been applied directly. However, when the divorce, dissolution and separation Act 2020 (DDSA 2020) was introduced it was greeted with resistance from some legal scholars and even some courts have refused to apply the law objecting to the fact that the Act contemplates the existence of same sex marriages and is therefore not suited to Cameroon. They consider that the introduction of the No-fault in divorce proceedings is at variance with our African notion of marriage. By adopting a qualitative research methodology to analyse primary and secondary data and personal observations as a legal Practitioner, the author has sought to inquire into the merits of the DDSA 2020 and to assess its applicability in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon. The author concluded that the law is not only a revolutionary amendment of the Matrimonial cause Act 1973, with the introduction of a No-fault procedure, but also that that it meets the changing demands of the Cameroonian legal landscape in divorce proceedings. The paper concludes that the Cameroonian legislator needs to be proactive in legislating laws that will reduce Cameroon’s dependence on received English laws.

DOI: 10.22271/2790-0673.2026.v6.i1a.272

Pages: 09-15 | Views: 158 | Downloads: 135

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