VIDA YEBOAH v. DR STEPHEN YEBOAH & ANOR

ACKAAH-BOAFO JSC:

i. Overview:

[1] My Lords, having regard to the facts presented in this interlocutory appeal, which arises from a petition for divorce filed by the Petitioner, and the question for our determination, I consider it appropriate to commence my opinion with the old statement of law by Scrutton L.J. in _Hyman v. Hyman; Hughes v. Hughes, to the effect that:

“The stability of the marriage tie, and the terms on which it should be dissolved, involve far wider considerations than the will or consent of the parties to the marriage. The Court does not, as other Courts do, act on mere consents or defaults of pleading, or mere admissions by the parties.”

[2] I understand the above statement to mean that, in a divorce petition, even where both parties agree to separate or admit certain facts, the court will not automatically grant a decree of divorce merely because such an agreement exists. This is because marriage constitutes a legal status with public consequences, and its dissolution requires judicial scrutiny beyond the mere agreement of the parties.

[3] This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal dated 9th May 2024, by which that court set aside the ruling of the High Court delivered on 1st July 2021, by which the Applicant/Respondent/Appellant was joined to the divorce petition instituted between the Petitioner, Vida Yeboah, and the Respondent, Dr. Stephen Yeboah.

[4] For ease of reference, Vida Yeboah, the wife who instituted the divorce petition, shall hereinafter be referred to as “the Petitioner”; Dr. Stephen Yeboah, her husband, as “the Respondent”; and Mercy Agyeiwaa as “the Appellant” in this appeal.

[5] The Appellant has invoked the appellate jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, seeking an order to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal and to restore the ruling of the High Court which granted her application for joinder to the suit.

[6] My Lords, in this appeal, this court is not called upon to determine the substantive action, but rather to resolve an interlocutory issue — namely, whether the alleged adulterer, the Appellant, is a necessary party to the pending divorce petition before the High Court, Agona Swedru. In light of the divergent positions adopted by the two lower courts on the question of joinder, this Court, being the final appellate court, is tasked with determining whether the Appellant ought to be joined as a party to the suit.

**ii. Brief Background F