MARRIAGE: MA v JA and the Attorney General [2012] EWHC 2219 (Fam)

By Samantha Bangham, Law Reporter - 07 August 2012

(Family Division, Moylan J, 27 July 2012) 

The husband, supported by the wife, submitted that a marriage ceremony conducted by an Imam at a Mosque was valid and sought a declaration under s 55(a) of the Family Law Act 1996. The Attorney General intervened and submitted it was not capable of recognition and was in effect a non-marriage.

At the time the ceremony took place the husband and wife were not informed of the formalities required under the Marriage Acts and as a result some of the requirements of the Acts were not fulfilled.

The presumption of marriage could not be applied to the case in order to establish the relevant requirements were fulfilled. However, the ceremony was of the kind permitted by English law and was in a form capable of producing a valid marriage. The declaration was granted.

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