Marriage and the Constitution

Marriage & The Australian Constitution Marriage is dealt with in Section 51 sub section (xxi) of the Constitution which is shown below and following it relevant comments by Sir John Quick, and Robert Garran taken from the Annotated Constitution; the foremost authority on our Constitution in terms of drafting parliamentary legislation; and the Constitution itself. 51. The Parliament shall, subject to this constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good Government with respect to. (xxi) Marriage Comments from page 608 of the Annotated Constitution Marriage is a relationship originating in contract, but it is something more than a contract. It is what is technically called a status, involving a complex bundle of rights, privileges, obligations, and responsibilities which are determined and annexed to it by law independent of contract. According to the law of England a marriage is a union between a man and a woman on the same basis as that on which the institution is recognized throughout Christendom, and its essence is that it is (1) a voluntary union, (2) for life, (3) of one man and one woman, (4) to the exclusion of all others. (Bethell V. Hildyard, 38 Ch. D. 220.) In Conclusion The status of marriage indicated by the Annotated and as pointed out by the High Court is not immutable; that is to say what is encompassed within this status with regard to drafting legislation has to remain open to the discretion of law makers in order to take into account such things as age, mental capacity, ability to contract, parental consent, evidence, rules in restraint etc. What is made clear however according to law is marriage is a union between a man and a woman, this fact set aside in expressed terms. Parliamentary legislation from first being a Bill to becoming an Act of Parliament has to pass through the hands of the Attorney General whose job it is to ensure legislation aligns with the constitution; in so doing his first point of reference; as an authority; is the Annotated. In this case where the definition is expressed more than once; and so clearly; the only avenue of redress in terms of legislating to allow for persons of the same gender to Marry is the alteration of the Constitution in expressed terms. But more compelling in terms of law is the maxim "Summa ratio est, quce pro religione facit forbiding" meaning "a statute is forbidden if it goes against the law of God". Given this Any acts of parliament passed on the basis of a survey, informal vote; or plebiscite and without aligning with the word of God can be considered a nullity and void.