ZAI & YEN

In the matter of ZAI & YEN, Foster J of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was required to determine the validity of a marriage solemnised between Ms Zai (the wife) and Mr Yen (the husband). The dispute arose from allegations that the marriage celebrant had engaged in fraudulent conduct, including backdating and forging marriage documents, and lodging them with Births, Deaths and Marriages, leading to the unlawful registration of the marriage.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the marriage between Ms Zai and Mr Yen should be declared a nullity. This required the court to consider whether the marriage had been validly solemnised in accordance with the requirements of the *Marriage Act 1961* (Cth), particularly concerning the presence and genuine consent of both parties to the marriage ceremony.

Foster J reasoned that a valid marriage requires the real consent of both parties, which cannot be given if a party is absent from the ceremony. The evidence established that the wife was not present at the purported marriage ceremony and that the marriage celebrant had admitted to signing official documents as the celebrant and witness to signatures that were not witnessed, and to backdating the documents. The court found that the marriage celebrant had purported to solemnise and register the marriage based on fraudulent documentation and without the attendance of one of the parties. Consequently, the wife's purported consent to the marriage was found to be fraudulent, as she had only agreed to sign a preliminary document and was not present at the ceremony.

Accordingly, Foster J ordered that the marriage between Ms Zai and Mr Yen, solemnised on December 2018, be declared a nullity.