Marriage Ordinances for Africans

Abstract

In England, if a man wishes to get married, he must do so, in the great majority of cases, under the law of England; in Scotland under the law of Scotland. In either country he is at liberty to get married in a registrar's office or in a Christian church; if he decides upon a church, no legal consequences will follow other than those which follow from marriage in a registrar's office. If subsequently either party to the marriage wishes to raise an action arising therefrom they are at liberty to do so in the appropriate court; the court is the same court, and the law to be applied is the same law, whether they have been married in a church or in a registrar's office, whether they are Christians or not. But the court, and the law to be applied therein, differ according to whether the parties are subject to English or to Scots law. The divorce law of England is applicable to both Christians and non-Christians; neither category is prohibited by law from having recourse to it, though a convinced Christian may be so prevented by his faith and conscience. In other words, the matrimonial affairs of an Englishman or a Scotsman are governed by the civil law to which he is subject, whatever his religious beliefs.