Right to marry

Everyone who is old enough – no matter who they are or where they’re from – has the right to get married. This right is written into UK law.

However the details relating to this right are left to other pieces of legislation. For example, rules about who is old enough to be of ‘marriageable age’ are set out elsewhere.

The same goes for rules around capacity and consent, as well as issues of bigamy, incest and other areas relating to what makes a marriage legal – or not.

While there may be many rules around marriage, they do have to serve a purpose and must not interfere with the essence of the right itself. That means the rules shouldn’t actually stop anyone (or any group of people) from getting married if they are able and willing.

So laws making some people jump through needless hoops before they can married, or restrictions that serve no real purpose, may breach this right.

Same-sex marriage is now legal in the UK under the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.

The Courts have also held that Article 12 includes a right for transgender people to marry. However to get married in the gender they identify with, trans people need to have a Gender Recognition Certificate, which can be hard for some people to obtain.