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DOES PUBLIC OPINION HAVE ANY LEGAL IMPLICATIONS ON A PERSON ?.

 
Harriet and Frank have always been the ‘dream couple’; whenever one appeared without the other, there would be questions and rumours. 

Recently, Frank caught Harriet ‘red-handed’ in bed with the neighbour. Immediately Frank went to court and asked for a divorce, but he was told that he could not get the divorce that day. Since he did not want to keep answering questions, he put a video on social media about it and a video of Harriet with the neighbour and told them that “starting that day, he and Harriet were no longer married”. 
The priest and all the church members at their church saw it. Everyone agreed, from what they saw, that Harriet was to blame, and she was no longer married to Frank. On Sunday, the priest refused to give her holy communion because she is ‘no longer married’ and was even chased from ‘Mothers’ Union’. Harriet wants to know if the public has the power to make such decisions before the court does. 
 
WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?
When people in society form judgments or opinions about something or someone and call it good or bad, right or wrong because of what they hear or see, it is called the ‘court of public opinion.’

Although public opinion matters in certain things, it is not recognised by law and means nothing to someone’s legal status. This is because it does not give a fair trial to all the people involved, unlike the courts of law, which have this requirement. This means that even if Harriet was caught red-handed, the court will still give her a chance to tell her side of the story and listen to Frank. This means that even if the church does not like Harriet, they cannot cancel her marriage or deny her what she is entitled to as a married person. 

Frank, therefore, is still married to Harriet until a court declares the two divorced.

Source: BarefootLaw 

📷: Film freeway

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