In-law marriage ban ruled illegal

Britain's ban on in-law marriages successfully challenged at European Court

News, 14 September 2005

The British ban on marriages between parents-in-law and children-in-law has been ruled illegal by European judges.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg made the judgement following a case brought by a couple from Warrington who could not marry in Britian because the man is the father-in-law of the woman.

The couple (who were only identified in court as "B" and "L") claimed this ban, a feature of both English and Scots law, breached the Convention on Human Rights. Their relationship had developed after the woman's former husband left the marital home, but they were refused permission to marry by the superintendent registrar at Warrington Register Office.

The European Court said that although the British ban on in-law marriages was designed to protect the integrity of the family, it did not prevent such relationships happening.

L's son refers to his grandfather B as "dad" and through marriage, B will become the boy's legal stepfather.

The judgment stated: "Furthermore, since no incest or other criminal law provisions prevent extra-marital relationships between parents-in-law and children-in-law, it could not be said that the ban on marriage... prevented [the grandson] from being exposed to any alleged confusion or emotional insecurity."

The Human Rights Convention states that women and men of marriageable age have the right to marry and found a family. Exceptions to the ban have already been made in Britain and in a previous similar case, the Westminster Parliament had said that barring the marriage of in-laws "served no useful purpose".

The Warrington couple were awarded £12,000 in costs and expenses. A spokesman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said it was considering the judgment in terms of the government changing the law.