HAMWI & OMAR

In the matter of *Hamwi & Omar*, heard before Johnston J, the dispute concerned an application for a decree of nullity of marriage. The basis for this application was an allegation that one of the parties was already lawfully married to another person at the time of the purported marriage.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the marriage was void *ab initio* due to a pre-existing lawful marriage of one of the parties. This required the court to determine the validity of the alleged prior marriage and its impact on the subsequent purported marriage.

Johnston J considered the evidence presented regarding the alleged prior marriage. The court applied the legal principle that a marriage is void if either party is already lawfully married to another person at the time of the ceremony. After reviewing the evidence, the court was not satisfied that a valid prior marriage had been established. Consequently, the court found that the grounds for nullity had not been made out.

Accordingly, Johnston J ordered that the Initiating Application filed on 23 September 2009 be dismissed.