R v M

Under the lex loci celebrationis, a foreign marriage is formally valid in England if it complies with the form required or recognised as sufficient by the law of the country where it was celebrated. Registration is not necessarily constitutive of marriage. Where the evidence establishes that a religious or customary ceremony creates civil marital status under the foreign law, the marriage must be recognised in England, even if it could not have been celebrated in accordance with English domestic formalities. A later unilateral religious divorce has no effect in England where the marriage is recognised as a valid foreign marriage.

The petitioner sought a divorce from the respondent following a Nikah ceremony celebrated in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 9 November 2007. The respondent argued that the ceremony created only a religious relationship because the marriage had not been registered in Pakistan or England. He also argued that his unilateral talaq had dissolved the relationship.

The central issue was whether the ceremony created a legally binding marriage under Pakistani law and, consequently, whether it had to be recognised in England under the rules of private international law.

1. The court determined that the marriage was validly celebrated in Pakistan and must be recognised as valid in England.
2. English law contains no general registration procedure for a foreign marriage. A ceremony which is culturally or religiously binding but not recognised by English law may require a further ceremony complying with the Marriage Acts. That principle did not govern this case because the question was whether the Pakistani ceremony was legally effective in Pakistan.
3. Under the lex loci celebrationis, the law of the country of celebration determines whether the local form of marriage has been satisfied. The evidence established that, in Pakistani law, the contract and ceremony of marriage create the status of husband and wife. Registration is administrative and evidential rather than constitutive.
4. The court accepted the expert evidence that Ahmahdi marriages, although not registrable under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 and not capable of being registered under the Special Marriages Act 1872 on the evidence before the court, could nevertheless be recognised for civil purposes in Pakistan. The Rabwah marriage certificate provided evidence of the marriage, and the marriage was treated by officials and the community as valid.
5. The purported certificate under the Special Marriages Act 1872 did not itself create or validate the marriage. Its validity was unnecessary because the original ceremony was legally effective.
6. The respondent’s talaq, recognised by the Rabwah Marriage Office for community purposes, could not dissolve a marriage recognised as legally valid in England. The proceedings therefore established a marriage capable of dissolution in England.