Part IE+W Divorce, Nullity and Other Matrimonial Suits

NullityE+W

12 Grounds on which a marriage is voidable.E+W

[F1(1)A marriage celebrated after 31st July 1971[F2, other than a marriage to which section 12A applies,] shall be voidable on the following grounds only, that is to say—

(a)that the marriage has not been consummated owing to the incapacity of either party to consummate it;

(b)that the marriage has not been consummated owing to the wilful refusal of the respondent to consummate it;

(c)that either party to the marriage did not validly consent to it, whether in consequence of duress, mistake, unsoundness of mind or otherwise;

(d)that at the time of the marriage either party, though capable of giving a valid consent, was suffering (whether continuously or intermittently) from mental disorder within the meaning of [F3the Mental Health Act 1983] of such a kind or to such an extent as to be unfitted for marriage;

(e)that at the time of the marriage the respondent was suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form;

(f)that at the time of the marriage the respondent was pregnant by some person other than the petitioner.

[F4(g)that an interim gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 has, after the time of the marriage, been issued to either party to the marriage;]

[F5(h)that the respondent is a person whose gender at the time of the marriage had become the acquired gender under the Gender Recognition Act 2004.]]

[F6(2)Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) do not apply to the marriage of a same sex couple.]