The currently ongoing project of reform on the law of marriage in England and Wales: the Law Commission’s scoping paper of 17 December 2015

Abstract

The very complex and uneven English Law on marriage that clearly favours certain types of religious ceremonies, and sets a number of different requirements for solemnization of marriages that undoubtedly privileges some religious groups over the others, is currently under review by the Law Commission following an appeal from the English Government to do so. The Commission has recently produced an interesting and highly revealing scoping paper on this subject, which is the main focus of this study; in order to properly contextualize its meaning and possible future consequences whenever the ongoing reform process reaches its final stage, this paper gives preliminary consideration to the role of the Law Commission in the English Legal System and also summarises the main features of the current Law on the formalities of marriage in England and Wales, and then focuses on the study of the content of the above mentioned scoping paper, finally suggesting that the same reasons that opposed to the success of similar reform projects in the past might also be an obstacle to this new reform proposal.