The Judicial Management of Cohabitation of Spouses under Legal Separation

The disagreement between the spouses is the cause of the separation and on the basis of one of the statutory causes or their consent, the judge grants them the legal separation. Within the present study entitled “the management of cohabitation of spouses under legal separation in Rwandan law”, there were examined the effects of the cohabitation of spouses in separation, and there was found out that spouses in separation from the body are exempt from the duty of cohabitation, but the separated spouses retain all other duties arose marriage. The consequences of cohabitation during the period of separation of bodies are multiple and greatly affect the woman and the child born of this cohabitation.
In order to deal with these kinds of problems, it is necessary that the judge who ordered the suspension of the duty of cohabitation be aware of the resumption of cohabitation. If the suspension of cohabitation requires a legal procedure, its purpose should also be law and not in fact.Otherwise the reason will be given to the one who has evidence before the judge to justify the resumption of cohabitation or not, and yet the evidence is easier to find for the husband than for the wife.
In our view, we recommend that the resumption of common life be known by the judge beforehand. The separated woman is the first victim in case her husband fails to accept that he is the author of the cohabitation observed by signs outside the woman.
Cohabitation before the resumption of life together and where a child is conceived is always ineffective because the situation is always similar to that of the period of legal separation. The judge who issued the judgment authorizing the separation of bodies does not know the resumption of cohabitation.Finally, we say that the force of the thing judged is a principle that applies to all decisions of the judge whose remedies have been exhausted. The opposite option to that taken by the judge must be agreed upon by the parties at trial. In our study the woman will find herself in precarious conditions, once she tries to make an instant cohabitation with her husband, it is to her that belongs the burden of proof.
A judgment becomes a law; the parties must respect it and execute it properly. It is advisable to go through the legal procedures to avoid any consequences that may arise from a de facto procedure.
Therefore, there is recommended that the proved cohabitation may imply reconciliation and entail the removal of the claim on one side and on the other side that the Rwandan government do all it can to help children who are victims of this kind of disavowal to do the DNA testing and restore the rights of these children.