Orlandi v Castelli 1961 SC 118
Citation: Orlandi v Castelli 1961 SC 118
Rule of thumb: Can you agree a marriage with someone to avoid immigration? No, these are deemed to be sham marriages & the person can still be deported.
Judgment:
The facts of this case were that 2 people got married so that one party would not be deported from the country. It was argued by the defender that all of the essentials for the marriage were there – it was between 2 consenting adults who fully understood what they were entering into, and the motives behind signing the agreement were not relevant. The Court held that when it came to marriage the motives were relevant, over and above what was actually signed – the Court held that sham marriages like this were not valid marriages. The marriage was declared to be void. ‘"On 4th April 1956 the pursuer and defender went through a formal ceremony of marriage in the registry office of the Kelvin district of Glasgow. Both the parties were Roman Catholics and neither of them regarded the ceremony in the registry office as a marriage. As Roman Catholics they had no matrimonial purpose in connexion with the said ceremony. They both intended that, if they were to be married, the marriage would take place in a chapel. The ceremony in the registry office was not intended by the parties to be a marriage. The formal consent which they interchanged was not exchanged with a view to constituting a marriage, but was exchanged in an attempt to induce the Home Office to allow the defender to remain in this country, or, in any event, to return to this country after leaving it at this time. At the said ceremony real and actual consent to marriage was withheld by both parties... In my opinion, this is the correct view of the matter, and where it can be established that there has been no true matrimonial consent, and that the ceremony was only designed as a sham or as an antecedent to true marriage, it is competent to found upon that absence of consent for the purpose of setting aside a marriage regularly celebrated... the pursuer is well-founded in contending that, if she is able to demonstrate by sufficient evidence that there was no real consent to marriage on the part of herself and the defender Castelli, she would be entitled to the remedy which she seeks." Lord Cameron
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.