Anything in the law to stop you having multiple wives?

drunkmonkey

I understand the Catholic Church might not like it but if you were to change religion to one that allows it, would it be ok then?

Think they'd have to subscribe to the same religion, too?

P_1

Isn't bigamy a crime in Ireland?

Pro Hoc Vice

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I understand the Catholic Church might not like it but if you were to change religion to one that allows it, would it be ok then?

I believe in Ireland it's a statutory offence covered by the Offences Against the Person Act 1861

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/100/section/57


57Bigamy. Offence may be dealt with where offender shall be apprehended. Not to extend to second marriages, &c. herein stated.

Whosoever, being married, shall marry any other person during the life of the former husband or wife, whether the second marriage shall have taken place in England or Ireland or elsewhere, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable . . . F1 to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding seven years . . . F2:
Provided, that nothing in this section contained shall extend to any second marriage contracted elsewhere than in England and Ireland by any other than a subject of Her Majesty, or to any person marrying a second time whose husband or wife shall have been continually absent from such person for the space of seven years then last past, and shall not have been known by such person to be living within that time, or shall extend to any person who, at the time of such second marriage, shall have been divorced from the bond of the first marriage, or to any person whose former marriage shall have been declared void by the sentence of any court of competent jurisdiction.

johnnyskeleton

It may also be an offence under s.69 of the civil reigatration act 2004 to give misleading info or to register an invalid marriage.

Grolschevik

Legally married wives recognised by the state? No.

Multiple live-in partners? Yes.

drunkmonkey

Ahh so it's only a crime if you marry them?

Robbo

"I hear chopping, but I don't hear digging"

Grolschevik

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Ahh so it's only a crime if you marry them?

Actually, in relation to the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, it might get complicated.

172.— (1) For the purposes of this Part, a cohabitant is one of 2 adults (whether of the same or the opposite sex) who live together as a couple in an intimate and committed relationship and who are not related to each other within the prohibited degrees of relationship or married to each other or civil partners of each other.

(2) In determining whether or not 2 adults are cohabitants, the court shall take into account all the circumstances of the relationship and in particular shall have regard to the following:

(a) the duration of the relationship;

(b) the basis on which the couple live together;

(c) the degree of financial dependence of either adult on the other and any agreements in respect of their finances;

(d) the degree and nature of any financial arrangements between the adults including any joint purchase of an estate or interest in land or joint acquisition of personal property;

(g) the degree to which the adults present themselves to others as a couple.

billy few mates

The penalty for multiple wives is multiple 'mothers in law'....

Cody Pomeray

As someone else said bigamy is an offence under the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861.

Annual crime reports suggest that prosecutions are very rare to non-existant, and the last prosecution was Ballins in 1964. This is an interesting summary of Ballins by the late great Kinlen J in OB v. R & OB [1999]

In that case, the defendant married in a registry office in England. Her husband was involved in criminal activity and was jailed. She returned with her child to Limerick.

She met an old boyfriend who took her into his house and looked after herself and the child. She endeavoured to get a divorce from her husband but he refused unless he obtained custody of their child. She would not agree to that.

A well-intentioned catholic curate prevailed upon her that she was not married in the eyes of the church. He met them at six in the morning. He purported to marry them. The priest wanted to regularise the position of the man she was now living with and herself. The marriage was witnessed by the parish clerk and the priest's housekeeper.

When her husband was released from jail, he came to Limerick looking for his wife and his conjugal rights. He broke into the room where she was sleeping with her partner. A row developed between the two men. The gardaí were called. The sergeant who arrived decided that the cause of the trouble was the woman so he arrested her and charged her with bigamy. The two men then went drinking.

She pleaded guilty in the District Court. The district justice felt he could only impose one year and that that was not sufficient having regard of the nature of the crime. He sent her forward on her plea of guilty to the Circuit Court. She came before the most respected president of that court, Ó Briain J sitting at Limerick.

I was a young barrister listening to the case. My recollection is that Mr William Binchy was for the defendant, although the report has him appearing for the Attorney General. I vividly recall him demanding to know why the Attorney General did not prosecute the priest. She was an uneducated poor woman who was doing the bidding of her priest. The priest was an accessory before, at, and after “the fact”. The trial judge said that the crime would normally require at least eighteen months imprisonment. This was possibly to placate the learned district judge who had declined jurisdiction as “he could only give twelve months”.

Ian Whelan

billy few mates wrote: »

The penalty for multiple wives is multiple 'mothers in law'....

Yes, enough to put anybody off.

GarIT

I don't see why this is a crime. If everyone involved in it is ok with it I don't see the problem.

Thoie

Grolschevik wrote: »

Actually, in relation to the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, it might get complicated.

So you could marry one wife/husband, and then civilly partner another?