Restitution of conjugal rights
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In English law, restitution of conjugal rights was an action in the ecclesiastical courts and later in the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes. It was one of the actions relating to marriage, over which the ecclesiastical courts formerly had jurisdiction.
This could be brought against a husband or wife who was guilty of "subtraction"; that is, living away from their spouse without a good reason. If the suit was successful, the married couple would be required to live together again.[1]
In 1969 a Law Commission report recommended the abolition of the action,[2] and it was abolished by the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act 1970.[3]