Islamic Nikah ceremony and marriage validity

The case of Khan v Akhter has now been decided by the Court of Appeal. It received a huge amount of coverage in the legal press and beyond. In simple terms the court has ruled that a couple who went through a religious-only wedding ceremony in the UK are neither validly married nor parties to a void marriage overturning an earlier decision of the High Court.

Why is this so important?

No one was arguing that Mr Khan and Ms Akhter had entered into a valid marriage. However if their Nikah ceremony had given rise to a void marriage it would have opened up the possibility of an application for financial provision on the same terms as a divorcing couple.

The facts

There was an Islamic wedding ceremony or Nikah between the parties in the UK. They intended to undertake a civil ceremony later and presented to the world as a married couple. The evidence was that neither was under any illusion that the Nikah would change their legal status in the UK. However Mr Khan repeatedly refused to participate in a civil marriage ceremony. The High...

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