{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/matrimonial-causes-northern-ireland-order-1978/article-13",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/matrimonial-causes-northern-ireland-order-1978/article-13.json",
  "legislation": "nisi/1978/1045",
  "legislation_title": "Matrimonial Causes (Northern Ireland) Order 1978",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/matrimonial-causes-northern-ireland-order-1978",
  "path": "article/13",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "13",
  "heading": "Grounds on which a marriage is void",
  "text": "(1) A marriage celebrated after the commencement of this Article shall be void on the following grounds only, that is to say—\n(a) that the parties are within the prohibited degrees of relationship;\n(b) that it is not a valid marriage under the provisions of the Age of Marriage Act (Northern Ireland) 1951 1951 c.25 (persons under 16);\n(c) that it is not a valid marriage by reason of non-compliance with any statutory provision or rule of law governing the formation of marriage;\n(d) that at the time of the marriage either party was already lawfully married or a civil partner;\n(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\n(f) in the case of a polygamous marriage entered into outside Northern Ireland, that either party was at the time of the marriage domiciled in Northern Ireland.\n(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)( f) a marriage is not polygamous if at its inception neither party has any spouse additional to the other.\n(3) Paragraph (4) applies in the case of a marriage which results from the conversion, or purported conversion, of a civil partnership into a marriage—\n(a) under Part 3 of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, or\n(b) under Part 3 or 4 of the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014 where the civil partnership is a convertible Northern Ireland civil partnership as defined by regulation 2 of those Regulations.\n(4) The marriage is void if (but only if) the civil partnership was void.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "2004 c. 33"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Art. 13(1)(e) omitted (13.1.2020) by virtue of The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1514), regs. 1(2), 5(1) (with regs. 6-9)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "1995 NI 20"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Art. 13(3)(4) inserted (7.12.2020) by The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1143), regs. 1(2), 37(2)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1978/1045/article/13",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T04:53:06.256963+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}