PEREIRA & GANGUMI

In the matter of *Pereira & Gangumi*, Gill J of the Family Court of Australia was required to determine the validity of a marriage solemnised in New South Wales in March 2013 between the parties. The dispute concerned the nullity of this marriage, arising from an allegation that one of the parties had a pre-existing subsisting marriage to another person at the time of the 2013 ceremony.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the marriage was void ab initio due to a prior subsisting marriage. This required the Court to consider the admissibility and effect of various documents tendered as evidence, including a copy of a document purporting to establish a divorce from a foreign jurisdiction, and a Certificate of Divorce issued under section 56 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). The Court also had to determine whether it could draw inferences from these documents to apply the provisions of the *Evidence Act 1995* (Cth), particularly in relation to public documents and business records.

Gill J reasoned that the evidence presented, including the foreign divorce document and the Certificate of Divorce, established that one of the parties was already married at the time of the 2013 ceremony. The Court found that the foreign document, bearing a seal, was admissible as a public document and allowed for inferences to be drawn regarding its authenticity and the divorce it purported to evidence. Consequently, the Court concluded that the marriage solemnised in March 2013 was void from its inception.

The Court ordered that the marriage solemnised at Suburb D, New South Wales, in March 2013 between the parties be declared absolutely null and void.