Divorces in Scotland reached their highest level for more than a decade last year.

More than 13,000 marriages were dissolved in 2006, a 19% increase on the previous 12 months. Meanwhile, the number of marriages dropped to its fifth-lowest level since Victorian times.

The increase is tempered by the introduction of the Family Law (Scotland) Act, meaning there are reduced separation periods for divorce with consent from two years to one year, and for divorce without consent from five years to two years.

Critics of the changes say couples are being encouraged to split, rather than attempt to resolve their relationships. The Catholic Church in Scotland last night warned ministers they were promoting marriage as a "temporary contract, rather than a permanent commitment".

The Scottish Executive claimed the reforms did not "undermine the place of marriage in our society", and rejected accusations that divorce has become easy .

There were 13,013 divorces in 2006 compared with 10,940 the year before, while the number of marriages fell year-on-year by 3% to 29,896.

However, family law specialist Caroline Flanagan reported three years' worth of clients seeking to divorce between the instigation of the new legislation in May 2006 and the year's end.

Ms Flanagan, a past president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: "People seem to have been encouraged to divorce since last May because of the reduced separation times. However, I think it's an increase which eventually will catch up with itself."

Simon Dames, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: "The Church warned this would happen and of the signal the change in the legislation is sending out. Law has an educative role and we're sending out the wrong message."

Duncan Macniven, Registrar General for Scotland, predicted the rise in divorces to be a "temporary surge". He said: "The effect of this change in legislation is likely to decrease over the next few years. The number of divorces in 2006 is by no means the highest recorded in Scotland. There were more divorces in 1983, 1985, and 1994."

Mary Mulligan, a Labour MSP who voted against the revised family law bill, stressed marital support services were scarce: "Some of these services are reluctant to even advertise for fear of stretching their numbers."