JEWERS & MARCHAND

The parties to this proceeding were Mr Jewers and Ms Marchand. The dispute concerned the validity of their marriage solemnised on 26 October 2003. The matter came before Gill J.

The court was required to determine whether the marriage between Mr Jewers and Ms Marchand was null and void due to a pre-existing marriage of one of the parties. A further issue was the proof of such a pre-existing marriage and the effect of a Certificate of Divorce pursuant to s 56 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) in establishing the dissolution of that prior marriage.

Gill J reasoned that a marriage is void if, at the time of the ceremony, one of the parties is already lawfully married. The court accepted the evidence presented, including a Certificate of Divorce, as sufficient proof that Ms Marchand's previous marriage had been dissolved prior to her marriage to Mr Jewers. Consequently, the impediment of a pre-existing marriage did not exist.

The court declared the marriage solemnised between Mr Jewers and Ms Marchand on 26 October 2003 to be absolutely null and void.