A comparative analysis of religious marriage in the Czech Republic and England and Wales
Abstract
This paper focuses on certain aspects of religious marriage that are common to the Czech Republic and England and Wales (e.g. legal impediment of age), as well as the differences between the two jurisdictions (e.g. same-sex marriage). All analyses were conducted with reference to canon law. The paper first presents an outline of the current legal framework regulating marriage and then proceeds to elaborate on how these countries distinguish between civil and ecclesiastical marriages. This is followed by a chapter on the understanding of marriage as a union between two people. In the Czech Republic, this understanding always includes only a man and a woman, while in England and Wales, “marriage” also applies to same-sex couples. The final chapter examines statutory age restrictions for marriage, noting a recent convergence in the minimum legal age considered in both jurisdictions.
Keywords:
religious marriage, civil marriage, same sex couple marriage, Marriage Act, civil partnership, registered partnership, Marriage (Same Sex Couples) ActSupporting Agencies:
The article was written as part of the project SGS-2023-012 ‘State and Law in the Course of Time 4’ being carried out at the Department of Legal History of the Faculty of Law of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen.References
Cranmer, Frank. 2015. “Quakers and the Campaign for Same Sex Marriage.” In: Religion and Legal Pluralism, ed. Russell Sandberg, 64–86. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.
Cretney, Stephen. 2006. Same Sex Relationships: From Odious Crime to “Gay Marriage.” Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Crossref)
Hrdina, Antonín. 2002. Kanonické právo. Praha: Eurolex Bohemia.
Králíčková, Zdeňka, Milana Hrušáková, Lenka Westphalová et al. 2022. Rodinné právo. Praha: C.H. Beck.
Polišenská, Petra, Radka Feberová, Zdeněk Stuchlík. 2017. Musíš znát… Rodinné právo. Manželství. Praha: Wolters Kluwer ČR.
Přibyl, Stanislav. 2021. Kanonické manželské právo. Nová Ves pod Pleší: Hesperion.
Robbers, Gerhard. 2019. “State and Church in Germany.” In: State and Church in the European Union, ed. Gerhard Robbers, 109–124. Baden-Baden: Nomos. (Crossref)
Sandberg, Russell. 2021. Religion and Marriage Law. The Need for Reform. Bristol: Bristol University Press. (Crossref)
Šínová, Renata, Ondřej Šmíd et al. 2014. Manželství. Praha: Leges.
Šínová, Renata, Lenka Westphalová. 2024. “Partnerství, registrované partnerství, manželství – aneb proč to dělat jednoduše, když to jde složitě?” Bulletin advokacie 6: 13–18.
University of West Bohemia
JUDr., Faculty of Law, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Pětatřicátníků 14, 301 00 Pilsen, Czech Republic; Lawyer for the city of Říčany, Attorney at the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Court of the Archdiocese of Prague, Czech Republic
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1711-4692License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- According to the Act of 4 February 1994 on copyright and related rights, the author of a publication transfers to the publisher the proprietary copyright of his or her work in all fields of exploitation known on the date of concluding an agreement with the publisher.
- Texts submitted for publication in Studia z Prawa Wyznaniowegocannot infringe the copyright of third parties. The author declares the originality of his or her publication when completing a declaration and signing a publishing agreement.
- Authors are permitted to post the publisher's version of their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories, academia.edu, researchgate.net or on their website) after its initial publication in this journal.
- With the consent of the editors, texts published in Studia z Prawa Wyznaniowego can be republished in other publications (provided that their original place of publication is acknowledged).
- This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.
