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The importance of being authorized : the genesis, limitations, and legacy of the Marriage Act 1898
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Probert, Rebecca, Akhtar, Rajnaara C., Blake, Sharon, Vora, Vishal and Barton, Tania (2021) The importance of being authorized : the genesis, limitations, and legacy of the Marriage Act 1898. Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 10 (3). pp. 394-417. doi:10.1093/ojlr/rwac002 ISSN 2047-0770.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/ojlr/rwac002
Abstract
Every place of worship that is registered for weddings is able to appoint its own ‘authorised person’ to replace the civil registrar who would otherwise be required to attend weddings there. Nonetheless, 120 years after this option was first introduced by the Marriage Act 1898, there are still many places of worship with no authorised person. With provisional proposals for an officiant-based system having been put forward by the Law Commission, it is essential to understand why the existing option of being authorised has not been taken up more widely, and whether there would be similar issues with the Commission's proposed scheme. In this article we draw on a combination of historical and empirical research to analyse the past, present and possible future of the law in this area. The option of being authorised was, from the start, hedged around with restrictions. It is also not well understood, and some of those who wish to be authorised experience challenges in engaging with the system. Participants preferred the option of being an officiant, and their comments and experiences provide a useful insight into how the Law Commission's scheme would need to be implemented.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | K Law [LC] > KD England and Wales | ||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Marriage law -- Great Britain, Weddings, Marriage customs and rites -- Great Britain, Marriage records -- Great Britain | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Oxford Journal of Law and Religion | ||||||||
Publisher: | Oxford Academic | ||||||||
ISSN: | 2047-0770 | ||||||||
Official Date: | October 2021 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 10 | ||||||||
Number: | 3 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 394-417 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1093/ojlr/rwac002 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Oxford Journal of Law and Religion following peer review. The version of record Rebecca Probert, Rajnaara C Akhtar, Sharon Blake, Vishal Vora, Tania Barton, The Importance of Being Authorized: The Genesis, Limitations, and Legacy of the Marriage Act 1898, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 2022;, rwac002, is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ojlr/rwac002 | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Copyright Holders: | Rebecca Probert, Rajnaara Akhtar, Sharon Blake, Vishal Vora, Tania Barton, © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 22 March 2022 | ||||||||
Grant number: | FR-384 | ||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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