2. (1) Section 2 of the Act of 1989 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1) —

(i) in paragraph (d), by the deletion of “and the respondent consents to a decree being granted”, and

(ii) by the deletion of paragraph (e),

(b) in subsection (2) —

(i) in paragraph (b), by the deletion of “or (e)”, and

(ii) by the substitution of “living apart from one another” for “not living with each other”,

and

(c) in subsection (3), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) For the purposes of this section—

(i) spouses who live in the same dwelling as one another shall be considered as living apart from one another if the court is satisfied that, while so living in the same dwelling, the spouses do not live together as a couple in an intimate and committed relationship, and

(ii) a relationship does not cease to be an intimate relationship merely because it is no longer sexual in nature.”.

(2) The amendments effected by subsection (1) shall apply to proceedings for the grant of a decree of judicial separation under the Act of 1989—

(a) that are instituted on or after the date this section comes into operation, or

(b) that have been instituted, and have not been concluded, prior to such date.

(3) In this section, “Act of 1989” means the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act 1989.