Explanatory note

This Order amends section 1 of and Schedule 1 to the Marriage Act 1949 (“the 1949 Act”) to remedy their incompatibility with a Convention Right.

In the case of B and L v United Kingdom (Application No.36536/02) the European Court of Human Rights found that there had been a violation of article 12 of the Convention in that the prohibition on marriages between a person and the parent of their former spouse and between a person and the former spouse of their child could not be supported as rational and logical.

In order to remedy this incompatibility the provisions of the 1949 Act forbidding the marriage of a person to the parent of his former spouse and the marriage of a person to the former spouse of his child are repealed by article 2(a) of this Order. Article 2(b) exempts a Church of England or Church in Wales clergyman from what would otherwise be his obligation to solemnize a marriage between those permitted to marry by article 2(a). Article 3 repeals certain provisions in consequence of article 2.