The article discusses the recrimination principle described in Article 56 paragraph 3 of the family code - one of the three negative reasons for the admissibility of a divorce ruling. According to it, a divorce is not admissible if a spouse demanding it is the only person guilty of the marriage disintegration. The recrimination principle protects social interests in two ways: on one hand it prevents lawlessness in the area of marriage dissolution, on the other hand the exceptions of the principle non-application make it possible to eliminate a situation in which a formal marriage is artificially sustained while it does not really exist and there is no chance to make it function in the future.