SAVIDGE & DENZIL

The applicant, Mr Savidge, sought a declaration that his marriage to the respondent, Ms Denzil, solemnised in Suburb D, New South Wales in May 2016, was a nullity. The matter came before Foster J.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the marriage between Mr Savidge and Ms Denzil was void *ab initio* due to a lack of genuine consent on the part of one of the parties.

Foster J found that the evidence established that Ms Denzil did not genuinely consent to the marriage. Her consent was vitiated by duress, rendering the marriage void from its inception. The court applied the principles of marriage law concerning the requirement for genuine consent and the consequences of its absence.

It was declared that the marriage between the applicant Mr Savidge and respondent Ms Denzil conducted at Suburb D, New South Wales in May 2016 is a nullity, subject to the entry of the order in the Court’s records.