Conflict and Balance: A Study on Practical Issues in the Marriage Law

Author: Guo Li-hong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman with the purpose of permanent cohabitation, encompassing the rights and obligations of spouses. ① As a natural attribute of biological beings, marriage should be a union of the two genders. However, as a unique social phenomenon in human society, marriage must be recognized by the society at the time and must be legal. Only legally established marriages can produce legal effects. Based on this, countries around the world have stipulated corresponding conditions for the formation of marriage, namely the substantial and formal requirements for marriage. These requirements are mandatory legal norms that neither parties may evade nor choose. The substantial requirements for marriage refer to the conditions that parties must possess for the marriage to be completely valid. Mainly include: mutual consent between the two parties, reaching the legal marriage age, no legally prohibited diseases, no legally prohibited family relationships between the two parties, and other statutory obstacles, which can be divided into conditions and prohibitions for marriage. Some also classify it into public interest requirements (mainly referring to certain requirements related to public order, such as mutual consent, monogamy, etc.) and private interest requirements (mainly referring to certain requirements that affect the parties' own interests, such as not reaching the legal marriage age, lack of consent from a legal representative, violation of waiting period restrictions, etc.). Even if parties themselves meet the conditions for marriage, it does not automatically establish the marriage. Except in a few countries that do not require formal requirements for marriage, parties still need to fulfill certain legal forms. The manner of marriage must comply with legal regulations or be legally recognized for its legal effect to be acknowledged by law, i.e., the formal requirements for marriage. Different countries have different regulations on this, including registration systems, ceremonial systems, or combined registration and ceremony systems for marriage. For illegal marriages formed due to the violation of marriage requirements, countries mainly adopt two systems to handle them: void marriages and rescinded marriages. For serious illegal situations that must be terminated, they are stipulated as void marriages (some countries call them absolutely void marriages); for certain lighter illegal situations where the illegal factors can be corrected after a certain period or changes in circumstances, they are stipulated as rescinded marriages (some countries call them relatively void marriages).