Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1968

11 Findings of adultery and paternity as evidence in civil proceedings

(1) In any civil proceedings—

(a) the fact that a person has been found guilty of adultery in any matrimonial proceedings, and

(b) the fact that a person has been found to be the father of a child in affiliation proceedings in any court in the United Kingdom,

shall (subject to subsection (3) of this section) be admissible in evidence for the purpose of proving, where to do so is relevant to any issue in those civil proceedings, that he committed the adultery to which the finding relates or, as the case may be, is (or was) the father of that child, whether or not he offered any defence to the allegation of adultery or paternity and whether or not he is a party to the civil proceedings; but no finding other than a subsisting one shall be admissible in evidence by virtue of this section.

(2) In any civil proceedings in which by virtue of this section a person is proved to have been found guilty of adultery as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) of this section or to have been found to be the father of a child as mentioned in subsection (1)(b) of this section—

(a) he shall be taken to have committed the adultery to which the finding relates or, as the case may be, to be (or have been) the father of that child, unless the contrary is proved ; and

(b) without prejudice to the reception of any other admissible evidence for the purpose of identifying the facts on which the finding was based, the contents of any document which was before the court, or which contains any pronouncement of the court, in the matrimonial or affiliation proceedings in question shall be admissible in evidence for that purpose.

(3) Nothing in this section shall affect the operation of any enactment whereby a finding of fact in any matrimonial or affiliation proceedings is for the purposes of any other proceedings made conclusive evidence of any fact.

(4) Nothing in this section shall entitle the Court of Session to pronounce a decree of divorce without administering the oath of calumny to the pursuer and receiving evidence from him; and in section 4(2) of the [1938 c. 50.] Divorce (Scotland) Act 1938, after the words " the decree of separation " there shall be inserted the words " (if granted on the ground of cruelty) ", and the words " adultery or " shall be omitted.

(5) Subsection (4) of section 10 of this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section as if the reference therein to subsection (2) were a reference to subsection (2) of this section.

(6) In this section—

(a) " matrimonial proceedings" means any consistorial action, any matrimonial cause in the High Court or a county court in England and Wales or in the High Court in Northern Ireland, or any appeal arising out of any such action or cause, and

(b) " affiliation proceedings" means, in relation to Scotland, any action of affiliation and aliment.