Has anyone seen this yet? I've an elderly Dutch/Somali client, here since '05 who's had various claims bouncing off the wall at Wick since her arrival.

I had a look at the appeal and identified a "son in law" who's been working here since 2003 and hence I though dep family member, ascending line, CIS 2100 2007 etc and away we went.

The problem I have encountered is that they were married under Sharia in Somalia and may well not be legally married either in Holland or here. I wonder whether they'd've been accepted as legally married in Holland, if so we're through the gate however if that's the case I will need authority and don't know where to start.

Any ideas?

curses...

http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-netherlands-holland-religion-marriage-birth-death

dan's link doesn't seem to answer the question of whether a marriage valid by sharia in the home country (which seems to be what happened,assuming all the relevant legal hoops in the home country were dealt with) is recognised as valid in holland...or here, come to that! that is to say, if the marriage was before they went to holland, it might well have been recognised as valid there, and maybe recognised as valid here as well...

thinks.. need matrimonial specialist who knows about conflict of laws etc.

We have seen a good few people here in Brum with marriage certificates from far flung places undrr far flung religions, usually trying to claim deceased hubby's cat B pension, only to find they were never married under UK law so it's tough donuts.

The next Judge to hear it will be someone who sits on the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal so he might have an idea.

I will work under that illusion until someone tells me I'm wrong. We're thinking we'll seek referral to the UT on the art 8/9 issue.

So might there be a breach of art 9 ECHR?

try this:

http://www.davidhodson.com/assets/documents/recognition.pdf

Tue 10-Nov-09 10:32 AM by Dan_manville

I haven't made the effort to say thank you yet... The jurisprudene of a certain UT Judge is rapidly drawn into question...

A marriage is recognised in English law if it was valid according to the law of the country where it was entered into and according to the law of domicile of the parties. Thus a polygamous marriage contracted in a country in which such marriages are lawful, and lawfully contracted there (eg, in Pakistan the first wife has to give written consent to any later marriage) is legally recognsed for some purposes in Britain, but not for a person domiciled in a country where polygamy is unlawful, such as Britain.

There are rules in benefit law about what constitutes a spouse for survivors' benefits, which mean that if a marriage is actually polygamous none of the surviving spouses can claim the benefit, but the sole survivor can if it was only potentially polygamous.

no problem, dan... thought you might like it!

Oh yes I did, and although R(G)1/00 will assist, I'd desperately like to cite McCabe...

"For the formalities of customary marriage see McCabe <1994> 1 FLR 410, where consideration for marriage was £100 and a bottle of gin even though the parties were not present! The money was distributed amongst the wedding guests and the gin consumed in the absence of the Ghanaian bride and Irish bridegroom. However, the Court of Appeal held that on the evidence of local law, the essential
components of a marriage ceremony, namely the consent of both parties and of their families, was
present so it was a valid marriage ceremony and so would be recognised here."

I suppose for a Sharia wedding "well they had a good p*ss up" doesn't work but it'd raise a smile with the vast majority of Judges so if anyone's got a copy...

Thank you to David Hodson for the excerpt.