Vol. 407 No. 8
8 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice whether it is his intention to grant licences to permit persons already married to enter into second marriages and to permit polygamy; and whether the necessary changes are to be made to the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861 and to the laws of civil nullity to allow such second marriages to take place.
22 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that approximately 200 decrees of annulment are being granted each year by the Marriage Tribunals of the Roman Catholic Church and that a number of people who have obtained such annulments have, contrary to the law, celebrated second marriages in church; and the steps he proposes to take to prevent such second marriages being celebrated and to ensure that those who break the law are prosecuted.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 22 together.
I have no functions in relation to the granting of marriage licences. Responsibility for the law relating to marriages is a matter generally, for the Minister for Health. That apart, I can say that I have no plans for changes in the law on the lines suggested in Question No. 8.
With regard to prosecutions I am informed by the Garda authorities that any complaints made to them alleging bigamy are investigated and that, where sufficient evidence is available, cases are referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Statistics relating to bigamy offences are published in the Commissioner's Annual Report on Crime, copies of which are available in the Dáil Library.
Within the context of the review to which the Minister referred in the last question, can he say whether he has received in his Department a submission from a group of Catholic priests and lawyers proposing that, instead of having divorce, we should license people for second marriages or license polygamy, so as to resolve the problem of the constitutional ban on divorce? Would the Minister himself say whether he would favour such an approach? Furthermore, is the Minister aware that there is a substantial number of second marriages taking place in churches throughout this country of people who received Church annulments in circumstances in which those second marriages are bigamous and no action is being taken? Can the Minister indicate what new steps the Government will take to prevent increasing numbers of couples living in bigamous circumstances — apparently another Irish solution to an Irish problem?
I have not received the report to which the Deputy referred but, from the public press, I am aware of its existence. The Deputy asked for my views, and I should say I would not be in favour of such proposals.
The Garda say that bigamy is difficult to prove and that the successful prosecution of such offences requires establishing, inter alia, that a previous marriage had taken place, determining whether a foreign divorce should be recognised and ascertaining whether in fact there had been a second marriage ceremony. Statistics of cases of bigamy recorded by the Garda and convictions obtained show that in 1990, for example, there were four recorded, that proceedings had commenced in respect of four and there was one conviction. Of course, civil actions alleging bigamy may also have been instituted but details of such cases are not readily available. If the Deputy has evidence of particular cases I suggest he might bring them to the attention of the Garda authorities; that is the way to proceed.
I welcome the Minister saying that he would not himself support legalised polygamy. Would he not accept that we now have an illegal, informal system of polygamy in that the Church is licensing second marriages by celebrating them after the granting of Church annulments? Is the Minister aware that the reason the Garda cannot proceed to bring prosecutions in such circumstances is that the wives or husbands of the first marriages are prohibited, under evidence laws, from giving evidence against their spouses? Is the Minister aware that four years ago the Law Reform Commission recommended that the law in that area should be changed? Will he say whether he intends changing it?
There are proposals for changes of the law in relation to evidence of spouses. The points raised by Deputy Shatter again highlight the need for a comprehensive view to be taken of this whole area of marriage breakdown. It is because of the problems caused by marriage breakdown here that the Government are adopting the comprehensive approach they are in the preparation of this White Paper on the issue.
They are running away from it.
Would the Minister not agree that the only way to deal with this problem and resolve it is to provide for a change in the Constitution and for the Government to take a political decision to support the enactment of divorce legislation?
They have not the guts to do that at present.
As I have already indicated, the White Paper will address all avenues of legal redress available to couples involved in marriage breakdown, including the question of divorce.
