News Supreme Court Judgments March 2018

No maintenance to ex-spouse who unreasonably rejects job offers

Loses maintenance allowance to ex-wife who unreasonably refuses job offers: a spouse’s aptitude for work as a potential earning capacity is an assessable factor in matters pertaining to maintenance allowance.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that a spouse’s aptitude for work is established where an actual possibility of performing paid work is found.

Cheating for spitefulness lawful: separation charge goes to first cheater

Separation should still be charged to the unfaithful husband who originally cheated on his wife, even though the latter, after discovering it, pursued an affair with another man out of spite: it was the original unfaithfulness of the partner that led to the “breakdown” of the marital relationship.

The Supreme Court, in ruling no. 3318/2017, thus ruled on the case at hand, establishing that the woman’s encounters with another man had been subsequent to her discovery of her husband’s affair, his final abandonment of the marital home, and the filing of the separation petition.

Keeping animals in chains is a crime

According to the Supreme Court, keeping animals in chains is a crime, since it is a situation that is, on the one hand, incompatible with their nature and, on the other hand, productive of severe suffering towards them.

In pronouncement no. 10164/2018, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction against a circus operator responsible for holding five elephants with chains that restricted even their most basic movements.

The judges went on to note that the use of chains is permitted only as an exception, in those cases in which it is necessary to provide for the health care and welfare needs of the animal, as well as the safety of the operators, and, in any case, only for the period in which such tasks must be performed.