The Laws For Weddings In England & Wales Are So Outdated And Date Back To 1836.
There Has Recently Been Proposals From The Law Commission To Bring These Up To Date, Here We Discuss What These Are And What They Mean For Weddings In The Future
Recent Proposed Changes To Marriage Laws In England & Wales
The Hungry Plaice • September 5, 2020
Changes To Wedding Laws Have Been Proposed
There have always been limitations on where a couple can get married up until now, this means that couples can only get married in an officially licensed sanctioned building which means either a religious building or a registry office.
There are of course some places where marriages can take place that have been recognised as approved premises since 1994 but of course the number on the list is quite limited.
Another issue is that whilst an exception exists for Jews and Quakers to marry in accordance with their rites which is a historic ruling dating back to the 17th century, other religious such as Hinduism and Islam are not actually legally recognised.
So that doesn’t leave much choice if you wanted to get married somewhere different and if you don’t hold any religious beliefs, and the current laws are not very fair if you practice a religion where your traditional ceremonies are not legally binding.
In fact, England and Wales are currently behind the rest of the UK, in Scotland for example couples can marry anywhere they like as long as they have an officiated celebrant.
There has also been changes over the last couple of years whereby both parents of couples are now recognised on Marriage Certificates yet in the past only the father was listed.
The recent Coronavirus pandemic has brought this issue to the forefront as marriages stopped for a period of time during the Lockdowns and as weddings can only be conducted indoors there was no possibility for the ceremonies to go ahead outdoors.
The laws date back to 1836, and as you find in legal systems sometimes things need to happen for laws to be reviewed and updated and as such the Law Commission has recently reviewed the system.
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The Law Commission findings have been that couples simply cannot choose a ceremony that reflects their own beliefs and they are having to choose between a civil marriage or a religious ceremony. The wedding venue must be a registered building meaning that there is no option to marry outdoors. The Commission also found the current system to be out of date and one that does not allow for some religious groups.
Ultimately there may be individuals who end up not being legally married as is the case with reports of women being married under Sharia Law in the UK and when they look at divorcing their marriages are nullified under UK Law.
The COVID19 Pandemic has shown that marriages cannot take place virtually in a world where technology is advancing this does not bode well in modern day life!
The Law Commission is proposing to overhaul this old and antiquated system to allow for couples to have their special day celebrated in the way they want.
The proposals under the review would allow for marriages to be legal in outdoor settings and in a wider variety of buildings, this would give rise to the opportunity for a couple to get married on a beach, in garden areas and also in the grounds of a Wedding venue rather than indoors.
There are also calls to include virtual weddings in the future so that marriages can take place over the internet which has been a limitation seen with the recent Pandemic.
Couples will also be given more choice with the ceremony they wish to have on their special day whether that includes a religious or non-religious ceremony.
The process will be overhauled leading to simplifying the process where notice can be given online or by post rather than the attendance in person.
All these changes will help to modernise the current laws and give couples more freedom of choice on the most important day of their life.
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