Marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official
A
civil marriage
is a
marriage
performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official.
[1]
Such a marriage may be performed by a
religious
body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely
secular
.
History
[
edit
]
Countries maintaining a
population registry
of its residents keeps track of
marital status
,
[2]
and all
United Nations (UN)
Member states except
Iran
,
Somalia
,
South Sudan
,
Sudan
, and
Tonga
have signed or ratified either the United Nations
Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages
(1962)
[3]
or the United Nations
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(1979) which carry a responsibility to register marriages.
[4]
Most countries define the conditions of civil marriage separately from religious requirements. Certain states, such as
Israel
, allow couples to register only on the condition that they have first been married in a religious ceremony recognized by the state, or were married in a different country.
In England
[
edit
]
In
medieval Europe
, marriage was governed by
canon law
, which recognized only those marriages where the parties stated they took one another as husband and wife as valid, regardless of the presence or absence of witnesses. It was not necessary, however, to be married by any official or cleric. This institution was canceled in
England
with the enactment of "
Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act
" of 1753, which required that, in order to be valid and registered, all marriages were to be performed in an official ceremony in a religious setting recognized by the state, i.e.
Church of England
,
the Quakers
, or in a
Jewish ceremony
. Any other form of marriage was abolished. Children born into unions that were not valid under the Act would not automatically
inherit
the property or titles of their parents. For historical reasons, the Act did not apply in
Scotland
. Consequently, until 1940, it continued to be enough in
Scotland
for a man and a woman to pledge their commitment to each other in front of witnesses to legalize their marriage. This led to an industry of "fast marriages" in Scottish towns on the border with England; the town of
Gretna Green
was particularly well known for this. In
1836
, the requirement that the ceremony takes place in a religious forum was removed, and
registrars
have given the authority to register marriages not conducted by a religious official.
In other European countries
[
edit
]
Many European countries had institutions similar to
common-law marriage
. However, the
Catholic Church
forbade
clandestine marriage
at the
Fourth Lateran Council
(1215), which required all marriages to be announced in a church by a priest. In 1566, the edict of the
Council of Trent
was proclaimed denying
Catholics
any form of marriage not executed in a religious ceremony before a priest and two witnesses.
The
Protestant
pastor and theologian of
Geneva
,
John Calvin
, decreed that in order for a couple to be considered married they must be registered by the state in addition to a church ceremony.
In 1792, with the
French Revolution
, religious marriage ceremonies in
France
were made secondary to civil marriage. Religious ceremonies could still be performed, but only for couples who had already been married in a civil ceremony.
Napoleon
later spread this custom throughout most of Europe. In present-day France, only civil marriage has legal validity. A religious ceremony may be performed after or before the civil union, but it has no legal effect.
In
Germany
, the
Napoleonic code
was valid only in territories conquered by Napoleon. With the fall of his empire, civil marriage in Germany began to die out. However, certain sovereign German states introduced civil marriages, which were either obligatory (like the French model) or optional, with either a religious or civil ceremony being accepted. Already before 1848, the Grand-Duchy of
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
enacted optional civil marriages, followed by the German republics of
the Free City of Frankfurt upon Main
(1850, obligatory),
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
(1851, optional) and
Free and Hanseatic City of Lubeck
(1852, optional). German Grand-Duchies such as
Oldenburg
(1852/55, optional),
Baden
(1860), and
Hesse
(1860) as well as the
Kingdom of Wurttemberg
(1863) followed suit.
[5]
Civil marriages enabled
interfaith marriages
as well as marriages between spouses of different Christian denominations. After the
unification of Germany
in 1871, the
Reichstag
adopted a bill initiated by Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck
as the "Civil Marriage Law" in 1875 (see:
Kulturkampf
); since then, only civil marriages have been recognized in Germany. Religious ceremonies may still be performed at the couple's discretion. Until December 31, 2008, religious marriages could not be performed until the couple had first married in a civil ceremony.
Civil marriage in the world nowadays
[
edit
]
England and Wales
[
edit
]
Today marriages in England or
Wales
must be held in authorized premises, which may include register offices, premises such as stately homes, castles, and hotels that have been approved by the local authority, churches or chapels of the Church of England or
Church in Wales
, and other churches and religious premises that have been registered by the registrar general for marriage.
[6]
Civil marriages require a certificate and at times a license, that testify that the couple is fit for marriage. A short time after they are approved in the superintendent registrar's office, a short non-religious ceremony takes place which the registrar, the couple, and two witnesses must attend; guests may also be present. Reference must not be made to God or any deity, or to a particular religion or denomination: this is strictly enforced, and readings and music in the ceremony must be agreed upon in advance.
[7]
United States
[
edit
]
Marriage in the United States
is largely regulated by state laws, though the Supreme Court has the authority to strike down unconstitutional laws ? see cases
Loving v. Virginia
and
Obergefell v. Hodges
.
All states and the District of Columbia, as well as
U.S. territories
, require a marriage license issued by local civil authorities. As a rule, ministers of religion (e.g. rabbis or Christian pastors) are authorized in law to perform marriages; various state or local officials, such as a mayor, judge,
deputy marriage commissioner
, or justice of the peace, are also empowered to conduct civil wedding ceremonies, which may take place in public offices. Many counties in Pennsylvania allow
self-uniting marriages
for which no official minister is required, owing to the state's
Quaker
heritage. The type of ceremony (religious or civil) has no bearing on the legal validity of the marriage, and there is no requirement to precede a religious rite with a civil ceremony.
[
citation needed
]
Marriages performed outside of the United States are legally binding if officially recognized by the government of the country in which they are performed.
Countries with mandatory civil marriage
[
edit
]
In most
European
and
Latin American
countries there is a civil ceremony requirement. Following the civil marriage ceremony, couples are free to marry in a religious ceremony. Such ceremonies, however, only serve to provide a religious recognition of the marriage, since the state's recognition has already been given. In some of these countries (e.g.
Belgium
, the
Netherlands
and
Turkey
) most couples marry without any religious ceremony at all.
[8]
Full, formal weddings, complete with wedding gowns and the presence of family and friends, are usually conducted in special ceremonial rooms in the town hall.
Countries with no civil marriage
[
edit
]
There is no civil marriage in many
Middle Eastern
countries like
Egypt
,
Syria
,
[9]
Jordan
,
[10]
Saudi Arabia
,
Qatar
,
Iran
,
Lebanon
,
Palestine
, and
Israel
, as well as
Libya
and
Indonesia
;
[11]
all marriages are conducted by religious authorities, and are registered by civil authorities only after having been registered by authorities of officially approved religions, or, having been registered abroad. Israel,
Syria
, and
Lebanon officially recognize
Islam, Christianity, Druze, and Judaism as different religious sects within the legal system; marriage is only possible within the same religion but allowed between different denominations of that religion.
[12]
In Lebanon, depending on the gender and religion, interfaith marriages are permissible. A Muslim man can marry a Christian or Jewish woman, but a Muslim woman cannot marry outside her faith. Additionally, Druze usually only law marriages between Druze. It demonstrates how in Lebanon gender and sect intersects in law and state affairs.
[13]
Additionally, Lebanon recognises civil marriages from abroad.
[14]
Contrary to the situation in Lebanon, Syrian law prohibits the recognition of any marriage that falls outside the existing proscriptions of its personal status laws, even if the couple marries abroad.
[15]
[a]
Egypt recognizes civil marriages but is very complicated. One needs to complete all necessary paperwork and then one must go
[
where?
]
with two men as one's witnesses. Foreigners will need a paper from their embassy. This yields particular problems for those refused divorce by their spouses, or couples in religious traditions that forbid divorce altogether.
Malaysia
and the
United Arab Emirates
allow civil marriage for non-Muslims only,
[17]
while in
Kuwait
,
Bahrain
and
Afghanistan
[18]
it is allowed for foreign citizens only.
Civil marriage and other unions of same-sex couples
[
edit
]
As of March 2024
[update]
, the following jurisdictions permit same-sex marriages:
In 22 countries worldwide and in several jurisdictions within Mexico, a same-sex couple can be legally partnered in a
civil union
,
domestic partnership
or
registered partnership
. Couples in these unions or partnerships are afforded rights and obligations similar to, but not identical to, those of a married couple.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
During the
Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
, French
High Commissioner of the Levant
Damien de Martel
enacted Law no. 60/LR (
Lois et Reglements
) on 13 March 1936, which would give different religious communities the right to form their family laws in their own religious courts. However, Muslims rejected the notion which would make them equal to non-Muslims and lose the privileged status made by the Ottoman
Millet
system. The Muslims also rejected Law no. 146/LR on 18 November 1938 enacted by High Commissioner
Gabriel Puaux
, which would recognize civil marriages contracted abroad, and require citizens to follow civil laws which are not explicitly regulated within one's religious community.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Civil Marriage Definition"
. Marriage.about.com. 2012-04-10. Archived from
the original
on 2023-02-27
. Retrieved
2013-03-24
.
- ^
"Demographic and Social Statistics: Marriage and divorce"
.
unstats.un.org
.
- ^
"OHCHR | Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage"
.
- ^
"Child Marriage - Consent to Marriage - CEDAW - UN Convention on Marriage"
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-10-29
. Retrieved
2013-03-31
.
- ^
Julius Schoeps, "Emanzipation der Herzen ? oder: Der Fall Ferdinand Falkson", in:
PreußenJahrBuch: Ein Alamanch
[published on the occasion of the Projekt Preussen 2001], Museumspadagogischer Dienst Berlin (MD Berlin) in collaboration with the Landesverband der Museen zu Berlin and Museumsverband des Landes Brandenburg (ed.), Berlin: MD Berlin, 2000, pp. 52?56, here p. 56.
ISBN
3-930929-12-0
.
- ^
"England and Wales",
Legal
(article), Wedding Guide UK, archived from
the original
on 2013-02-09
- ^
"England and Wales",
Music Not Allowed at Civil Ceremonies
(article), Wedding Music Designer (Simon Jordan), 30 August 2015
- ^
"Legal wedding in Turkey"
. 2022-10-29.
- ^
Syria: Social repercussions of a marriage between a male Druze and a Muslim woman
, UNHCR
- ^
Marriage in Jordan
, USA: Jordan embassy, archived from
the original
on 2011-10-06
- ^
Marriage in Indonesia
, BCC Visa Law, archived from
the original
on 2011-11-03
, retrieved
2011-08-31
- ^
Mikdashi, M. (2022). Sextarianism. In Stanford University Press eBooks.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503631564
- ^
Mikdashi, Maya (2022).
Sextarianism: sovereignty, secularism, and the state in Lebanon
. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
ISBN
978-1-5036-3156-4
.
- ^
"Marriage Lawyers in Lebanon | Attorneys Beirut |"
. Retrieved
2024-02-28
.
- ^
Hassan, Ali Wadea' (13 May 2017).
"Between Church and State: Civil Marriage in the Arab World"
.
- ^
"Marriage"
.
The Official Portal of the UAE Government
. Retrieved
2022-11-21
.
- ^
Marriage in Afghanistan
, USA: Kabul embassy, archived from
the original
on 2011-09-06
- ^
"Archived copy"
.
dysk.onet.pl
. Archived from
the original
on 4 January 2017
. Retrieved
22 May
2022
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
Israel's Supreme Court approves same-sex marriages performed abroad
Archived
September 30, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
Israel Insider, November 21, 2006
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- van Eijk, Esther (2016).
Family Law in Syria: Patriarchy, Pluralism and Personal Status Laws
. Bloomsbury Publishing.
ISBN
9781786730190
.
External links
[
edit
]