Divorce in Cameroon is the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body whilst Judicial Separation also known as legal separation is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de facto separation while remaining legally married. Judicial separation is also granted by court order.
Both divorce proceedings and judicial separation proceedings are governed by the Matrimonial Cause Act of 1973 in Cameroon by virtue of the relevant provisions of the Southern Cameroons High Court Laws of 1955.
According to the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1973, a person shall not be prevented from presenting a petition for divorce, or the court from granting a decree of divorce, by reason only that the petitioner or respondent has at any time, on the same facts or substantially the same facts as those proved in support of the petition, been granted a decree of judicial separation.
On a petition for divorce in such a case as mentioned, the court may treat the decree or order as sufficient proof of any adultery, desertion, or another fact by reference to which it was granted, but shall not grant a decree of divorce without receiving evidence from the petitioner.
Where a petition for divorce in such a case follows a decree of judicial separation or an order containing a provision exempting one party to the marriage from the obligation to cohabit with the other, for the purposes of that petition a period of desertion immediately preceding the institution of the proceedings for the decree or order shall, if the parties have not resumed cohabitation and the decree or order has been continuously in force since it was granted, be deemed immediately to precede the presentation of the petition.