Civil marriage annulment on the ground of incapacity to give consent

Abstract

Marriage is a stable union between two persons of the same or different sex, established in accordance with the requirements of civil law. In Spain, marriage can be formalised by civil or ecclesiastical means, but both have in common the need for consent as a declaration of will expressed by the contracting parties in order to validly celebrate the marriage. Therefore, the consent of the spouses is an essential element of the marriage and if the marriage is entered into without this element it will be invalid. The Civil Code establishes the grounds for marriage nullity, including the fact that the marriage was entered into without marital consent. In the case under analysis, the fact that one of the contracting parties had a significant impairment that rendered him/her incapable of governing him/herself also rendered him/her incapable of consenting to the marriage, together with the fact that the capacity of the contracting party was modified a few months after the celebration of the marriage in proceedings initiated prior to the celebration of the marriage.