“离婚冷静期”是《中华人民共和国民法典》中新添加的内容，是指夫妻在离婚时，政府强制要求双方暂时分开考虑清楚后再行决定是否继续离婚。仅在政府机关实施（不适用于法院直接判定离婚的法定事由），自2021年1月1日起。

“冷静期”为cooling-off period，相应的“离婚冷静期”发生在离婚之前，因此可译为“A cooling-off period before divorce”。

China Daily中对我国的这一新制度进行了介绍（以下为其部分内容）：

A couple must apply for a divorce at the civil affairs department, and the application will be approved after 30 days if neither party withdraws their applications, according to the Civil Code that will take effect on Jan 1. 根据将于1月1日生效的《民法典》，夫妻双方想要离婚的，必须向民政部门提出申请，如果三十天后双方均未撤回申请，则该申请将获得批准。

If one side has second thoughts during that time, the application will become invalid and a new 30-day cooling-off period will start.如果在此期间一方有其他想法，则该申请将失效，并且将开始新的30天冷静期。

The provision quickly went viral on Chinese social media platforms and triggered widespread public outrage, as some people think it hampers their marital freedom and increases divorce costs. Some even expressed concern that the period could cause further harm to victims of domestic violence. 

这项规定很快在中国社交媒体平台上引起热议，并引发了广泛的愤慨，因为有人认为这妨碍了他们的婚姻自由并增加了离婚成本。一些人甚至担忧这一时期可能对家庭暴力受害者造成进一步伤害。

The Legislative Affairs Commission with the NPC Standing Committee has also explained that the cooling-off period is only applicable to couples with an agreement to end a marriage, not all situations. Some extreme situations－including domestic violence, family abuse and drug use－are excluded and should be solved by lawsuit.

全国人大常委会法制委员会解释称，冷静期仅适用于协议离婚的夫妻，并非适用于所有情况。某些极端情况（包括家庭暴力、家庭虐待和吸毒）被排除在外，这些应通过诉讼解决。

【知识拓展】

离婚分为协议离婚和诉讼离婚。

协议离婚uncontested divorce：An uncontested divorce is a divorce decree that neither party is fighting. When both parties in a married couple agree to divorce, filing for an uncontested divorce can save time and money through streamlined court procedures. 

诉讼离婚 litigious divorce：This type of divorce comes when one of the spouses disagrees with the divorce and/or there is no divorce agreement, so one or both parties go to the Family Court Judge to resolve the divorce and the conditions thereof.