The couple separated in 2016, some years after the wedding ceremony in a London restaurant in 1998. They had not, as originally intended, held a civil marriage ceremony to make the marriage compliant with English law.
The high court held the Nikah created a void marriage which entitled the wife to pursue a decree of nullity under s 11 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The husband had argued the ceremony had no legal effect.
However, the Attorney General successfully appealed this decision, in Attorney General v Akhter [2020] EWCA Civ 122. The Court of Appeal held last week that the ceremony was non-qualifying and therefore did not create a void marriage.
The judgment noted that both parties knew the ceremony had no legal effect at the time, and neither their intention to hold a civil ceremony at a later stage nor any other ‘future events’ could change that. Otherwise, ‘this might result in a party being married even when they had changed their mind part way through the process’.
Anna-Laura Lock, senior associate at Winckworth Sherwood, said: ‘The decision has significant ramifications for Ms Akhter and many others in her situation who are denied access to the legal rights and obligations which are available following a divorce or decree of nullity.’
Graeme Fraser, partner at OGR Stock Denton, said: ‘People in Islamic marriages that have not also obtained a civil marriage are in the same perilous position as cohabitants.’
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