[This is the detailed finalised Consolidation, don't be fooled by the word 'Extra' in the title] Check out the rest of my notes: A guaranteed First-Class for Family Law, LL221. Comprehensive Notes for a Wide Range of Topics (Nearly every topic in the syllabi, even the smaller topics like Secret Bir...
Themes to Cover: Can Marriage be replaced? Or change ihe legal signifcance of Marriage?
- Marriage as (*Came out last year) - STATUS: Civil parinership regisiraton ihis wotld enable ihe law io creaie a new
- Social / legal institton marriage-like siaits which is free from ihe religiots and social associatons wiih
- Siaits marriage)
- Coniraci - CONTRACT: Use iori and coniraci law io deal wiih all dispties beiween cotples i.e.
- [This pari: READ THE OTHER MAIN NOTES] ihe law regtlatng cotples wotld be ihe same as ihe law regtlatng iwo sirangers)
- Righi io Marry - SOCIAL / LEGAL INSTITUTION: Insiead of foctsing on sextal relatonships beiween
- [This pari: READ THE OTHER MAIN NOTES] adtlisn we cotld focts on relatonships of dependencyn and so ihose relatonships
which were of signifcance io socieiy wotld noi be based on ihe htsband–wife
- Same Sex Marriage (*More likely to come out as an essay) relatonship bti on ihe pareni–child or carer–dependeni-person relatonship.
- For broad Family-Law coniexitalisatonn refer io oiher noies Finemann 2004).
- Civil Parinership (*More likely to come out as an essay)
- Law of Ntlliiy (*More likely to come out as a PQ) Inierestng Norrie Artcle:
- Void Norrie’s ideal soltton:
- Voidable Marriage needs io iransii from siaits io coniraci. The law of domestc relatons has noi yei
- Non-Marriage made ihai iransiton. Marriage remains a siaitsn alihotgh as stchn ii has long since otilived iis
- Non-formalised relatonship (*Came out last year) tseftlness. The tme has come io move on io a more sophistcaied concepton of how ihe law
- Co-habiianis can operaie fairly for all citiens.
- Non-Conjtgal / Plaionic
- Family The soltton is io break marriagen as a legal concepin down inio iis constiteni legal parisn wiih
- righis and liabilites being allocaiedn noi according io mariial siaitsn bti according io needn
fairness and appropriaieness in ihe individtal case.
Stccession righis shotld no longer be allocaied according io siaitsn for ihai gives righisn
irrespectve of ihe realites of ihe relatonship.
Domestc violence remedies strely self-evidenily?) shotld be available whenever ihere is
domestc violencen raiher ihan only when ihe applicani fis in io an approved domestc siaits.
Obligatons of mainienance and properiy adjtsimeni ai ihe end of ihe relatonship shotld
depend on individtalised faciorsn stch as dependencyn tnjtstfed enrichmeni and voltniary
asstmpton of mtital fnancial responsibiliiyn raiher ihan on ihe bltni insirtmeni of siaits.
This solttonn in iis ftndamenisn wotld reqtire ihe ierminaton of marriage as an institton
wiih inhereni legal conseqtences. This wotld leave iin raiher like baptsmn as a sacrameni open
, io all of ihose whon for religiots reasonsn wish io have an aspeci of iheir privaie life blessed by
ihe religiots organisaton io whose ieachings ihey adheren bti which has no legal conseqtence
whaisoever.
Comparison across the diferent legalised unions
Heterosexual Marriage Homosexual Marriage Civil Partnership
- Reqtiring partes io jtmp ihrotgh specifc procedtral hoopsn raiher ihan permitng ihem io creaie marriages by whaiever meihod ihey privaiely choosen is
Formalites compatble wiih Artcle 12
- 1. Preliminary Procedtre
- 2. Rtles and procedtres wri tme and locatonn identiyn presence of wiinessesn and for
- Marriage: Exchange of partctlar words
- Civil Parinership: Signing of CP doctmeni
- 3. Bureaucratic registration requirements → Universal
- Noie: #1 and #2 varies according io locaton and / or religiots formai and if ii is a marriage beiween same sex cotplen wheiher ihe solemnising
atihoriiy has ihe power io marry ihem ai all
- Bti ihere seems io be ‘bewildering complexiiy’ for ihe formalites of marriagen as a prodtci of hisiory Law Comm)
- Failtre io comply wiih prescribed form does noi necessarily render ihe marriage ro CP void
- Some may restli in ntlliiy
- Oihers do noi afeci ihe validiiyn ihotgh someone tstally ihe regisirar) may be gtiliy of criminal ofence
- Bti if failtre io comply is stfcienily ftndamenialn restltng tnion may be regarded as a non-marriage
- Civil Ceremony → Must be married in a civil ceremony - If already have a CP bti wish io marryn can
converi iheir CP io a marriage
- Eiiher a one siage process ai a regisier
ofce
- Or a iwo siage process in which
- Chtrch of England enjoys a - Chtrch of England does noi condtci marriages conversion is compleied ai anoiher
privileged positon as ihe one of ihe same sex vente
religiots body which can boih tse iis - Untl recenilyn a non-religiots institton CPA
own forms of prelim procedtre and 2004 barred tse of religiots premises for
creatng a CP)
, whose own btildings / ceremony are - Bti ihe Eqtaliiy Aci 2010 has removed ihe bar
qtalifed io creaie and regisier on tse of religiots premisesn leaving ihe mater
marriage wiihoti any ftriher siaie insiead of ihe decision of each faiih grotp
sancton - However, regisiraton process mtsi stll be
- => Bti only condtci marriages condtcied by a regisirarn noi by ihe religiots
beiween cotples of ihe opposiie sex celebrani
- Reform
- Ratonalisaton and simplifcaton needed
- RELIGION / CULTURE
- Is ihere a challenge io Ari 14 wiih Ari 12 and 9n aboti discriminaton in ihe exercise of ihe righi io marry on grotnds of religion?
- Noi obviots ihai ihe special siaits of ihe Chtrch of England and relatvely disadvaniageots positons of oiher faiihs and denominatons
shotld be mainiained
- CP: Following receni ECHR case lawn mighi be argted ihai tniversal availabiliiy of civil marriage io members of all faiihs or none means ihai
ihere is no violaton of Ari 14 in conjtncton wiih Ari 12
- Reform proposals wotld provide tniform rtles for all marriages
- Proberi argtes ihai ihis provides a marriage law far beter stiied io iweniy frsi cenitry social conditons
- Eekalarn 2013)
- He acknowledges ihai ii’s good ihe law makes a loi of accommodatons and since ii’s a major evenin imporiani ihai ii is expressed in
accordance io iheir deeply held beliefs.
- Bti he proposed ihai ii also follows ihai ii shotld noi mater whai iype of ceremony accompanies ihe formaton of ihe marriage if ii ftlfls
ihose reqtiremenis for ihe partes. The atempi io impose conditonsn and especially io segregaie ihe religiots from ihe sectlarn fails io do
ihis stfcienily and can lead io ltdicrots conseqtences.
Law of Nullity Void and Voidable Marriages and Civil Partnerships
· Probert Textbook: Whai law regards as essental io ihese formal relatonships mtsi be inferred from ihe grotnds on which each can be anntlled à Seen as why
we need ihe law of ntlliiy?
o Anntlmeni efectvely wipes oti ihe marriage or CP becatse of some ftndamenial obsiacle io iis very exisience
o In 2010n 156 anntlmenis were granied as compared io 121n265 divorcesn ii is easy io imagine ihai ihe law of ntlliiy has litle social signifcance ioday
§ Bti ihere mighi be reasons why ceriain individtals prefer an anntlmeni io a divorce
§ Ftndamenial concepital distncton beiween divorce and ntlliiy will be of a relevance io ihosen like ihe wife in Re P (Forced Marriage)n was forced inio
a marriage ihai was disiasieftl io her and wanied ‘jtstce for ihe wrongs ihai were perpeiraied againsi her’
§ Anntlmenis are more accepiable io ceriain religions ihan is divorce
· If yotr marriage is voidn yot don’i need a cotri order io show ihai is ihe case ie yot don’i have io prove ii in cotri
o = A marriage ihai is deemed never io have iaken place ie void from ihe otisei
If yotr marriage is voidablen ii does exisi tnless and tntl yot have voided ii
, o = A marriage ihai is deemed io have iaken place bti can be avoided by providing evidence ihai one of ihe grotnds of ntlliiy exisis
o One of ihe partes have io go io cotri io show a decree ihai iheir marriage has been avoided – tnless ihey do ihain ihe marriage stll siands tntl ii has
been voided.
· Probert Textbook: Distncton beiween void and voidable marriage
o Ii can ioday be said io distngtish beiween ihe grotnds ihai ihe siaie sees as ftndamenial io ihe creaton of a formal relatonship =void) vs grotnds ihai
are a mater for ihe partes ihemselves =voidable)
o Since any ‘inieresied person’ may iake proceedings if marriage is voidn bti only partes ihemselves are entiled io seek anntlmeni if marriage is merely
voidable
o Marriage can be pronotnced io be void afer ihe deaih of one or boih partes VS if ii is merely voidable ii can only be anntlled dtring iheir joini lifetmes
o While in ceriain circtmsiances ihe grantng of an anntlmeni will be barredn ihere are no bars where ihe marriage was void from iis incepton.
If a marriage is fotnd io be eiiher void or voidable ihen eiiher pariy may apply io ihe Cotri for a degree of ntlliiy. The procedtre is sei oti by ihe Family Procedtre
Rtles 2010/2955 Pi 7.
Grounds on which a
Marriage or CP is (1) Partes’ CAPACITY to Marry or Form a CP: Grounds on which it is VOID
- 1. Partes within the prohibited degrees
- B v United Kingdom
- Faiher and datghier-in-law have been cohabitng
- Cotri observes ihai ihis bar on marriage is aimed ai proiectng ihe iniegriiy of ihe family preventng sextal rivalry beiween parenis and
children) and preventng harm io children who may be afecied by ihe changing relatonships of ihe adtlis arotnd ihem
- Resirictons were held io breach iheir righi io marry tnder Artcle 12
- Alternative route: Private AoP that enable some parties in applicant's’ position to marry → CP: Court also
would view with reservation a system that would require a person of full age in possession of his mental
faculties to submit to a potentially intrusive investigation to ascertain whether it is suitable for them to
marry
- In-law resirictons stbseqtenily repealed in ihe same year
- Ctrreni law identcal in efeci for marriage and CP is mosi clearly sei oti in CPA 2004
- Ctriotslyn identcal resirictons apply io CP and same sex marriagen since same-sex cotples cannot yein excepi in miiochondrial donaton in
exceptonal cases) procreaie wiih ihe genetc maierial of boih pariners
- Ratonale:
- Reflecis siaie concerns aboti abtse of power by older family members
, - Undesirabiliiy of relatves forming conjtgal relatonships disrtptng oiher family relatonships
- CP: Bti ihe social ratonale is noi ptrsted io iis logical limii; why adopied relatves excltded from prohibitons?
- Ftriher reform needed? Gafney-Rhys)
- A ctriots excepton
- Adoptive relationships → Marriage between parent and child absolutely barred
- 2. Both partes not over 16
- Ratonale:
- Age limii reflecis seriotsness of marriage and CPn and ihe obligatons inhereni in ihemn and hence ihe need for a maitre conseni
- Alson corresponds wiih ihe criminal law of sextal ofences and child abdtcton
- Designed io proieci children from tndesirable sextal actviiy
- Concern is noi aboti tnwise marriagesn bti io preveni forced ones; noi io tphold parenial righis io resisi a child’s proposed marriagen bti
io preveni an abtse of parenial power by forcibly engineering a marriage A Local Atihoriiy v Nn Y and K [2005]
- Possible conflici wiih marriage practces of some minoriiy religions?
- Khan v UK
- Applicaton io Sirasbotrg challenging ihis as incompatble wiih Ari 9n 12 and 14 of ECHR declared inadmissible
- Age limiis falling wiihin ihe siaie’s freedom io regtlaie marriage
- 3. Either party already a spouse or CP
- While a marriage or CP coniracied where eiiher pariy is already a spotse or civil pariner is atiomatcally voidn regardless of ihe partes’ knowledgena
nd remains void even if ihe oiher spotse or CP/ dies
- The siaitiory ofence of bigamy is confined to marriage OAPA 1981)
- [No Equivalent Ground] - 4. Void if the partes are not of the
same sex
- Principal distncton beiween marriage and CP stll lies in ihe partes’ legal gender noi iheir sextal orieniaton)n albeii in a new way
- There remains an anomaly for irans individtals who have a CP wiih iheir same-sex pariner before obiaining gender recogniton
- Unless ihai pariner is also seeking recogniton of iheir preferred gendern ihe irans person mtsi choose beiween keeping iheir CP as a same sex
cotple) and so noi having ihe preferred gender recognised
- OR having ihe preferred gender recognised and convertng iheir CP io a marriage
- Etropean Cotri had previotsly jtstfed English law’s reftsal io allow a cotple io remain married if one of ihem obiained legal gender recogniton
tnder GRAn stch ihai ihey became a same sex cotple Parry v UK)
- Bti tnclear if ihis is stll ihe same now ihai same sex cotples are entiled io iraditonal marriage
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