(ECNS) – A deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) has proposed that domestic violence cases should be exempted from a 30-day cooling-off period for divorce to avoid risks of secondary harm to victims during the waiting period.

NPC deputy Fang Yan made the proposal as this year's "two sessions" -- the annual meetings of China's top legislature and top political advisory body -- are set to open in Beijing on Wednesday.

Fang noted that under China's Civil Code, couples who mutually agree to divorce must complete a 30‑day cooling-off period before the divorce is finalized. Yet in cases involving domestic violence, this waiting period can put victims at risk, since abusers may use the time to withdraw consent or threaten retaliation, the deputy argued.

Victims attempting to bypass the cooling-off period often have no choice but to pursue a litigation divorce, which involves multiple stages such as filing evidence submission and court hearings – a time-consuming and cumbersome process, she said. Therefore, she called for a reexamination of the cooling-off period system's rationality and applicability in domestic violence cases.

"Improvements through legislative refinement, evidence standardization, procedural optimization, and supporting measures, for example, suggesting timely amendments to the Civil Code, promoting pilot programmes to explore exceptions, making clear guidelines on admissible evidence and verification standards, and improving data sharing channels between relevant government departments," she recommended.

(By Zhang Dongfang)