Vishal Vora
Contact: vora@eth.mpg.de or +447956358999
Experienced family law professional and academic.
Currently working as a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropolgy, Department of Law and Anthropology, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Previously a Teaching Fellow at the School of Law, SOAS, University of London. Previously taught at the University of West London and University of Buckingham.
2015-16 visiting academic at School of Law, University of Melbourne, Australia.
PhD thesis from SOAS (2016): The Islamic marriage conundrum: register or recognize? The legal consequences of the nikah in England and Wales.
Address: Berlin, Germany
Experienced family law professional and academic.
Currently working as a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropolgy, Department of Law and Anthropology, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Previously a Teaching Fellow at the School of Law, SOAS, University of London. Previously taught at the University of West London and University of Buckingham.
2015-16 visiting academic at School of Law, University of Melbourne, Australia.
PhD thesis from SOAS (2016): The Islamic marriage conundrum: register or recognize? The legal consequences of the nikah in England and Wales.
Address: Berlin, Germany
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Book Reviews by Vishal Vora
Talks by Vishal Vora
Introductory Article:
‘How Could English Courts Recognize Shariah?‘ (John R. Bowen).
Reference: University of St. Thomas Law Journal, 7(3), 2010, 411–35.
Presentation abstract:
The question of marriage validity is not novel; the answer could only be valid or void. What changed in 1997 was the formation of a new category called non-marriage. Certain religious marriages are considered so far from being what parliament intended, that they can only be deemed a non-event and give rise to no legal rights. In a short space of time there have been a number of cases involving the validity of Islamic marriages, entered into with good faith and via a ceremony, yet nearly all have been declared non-marriages. Is this judicial ‘wrong-turn’ being used too casually? Has the time come to recognise religious and belief marriages and if so, what may be the best mechanism?
Biography:
Vishal’s PhD research focuses on second-generation British Muslims, their marriage practices, and their interaction and conflict with the law due to religious and ethnic identity. He project examines the rights of women unknowingly ‘cohabiting as married’. He is a member of the Ministry of Justice Working Group on Muslim Marriage.
The marriage laws of England and Wales are straightforward and easily accessible to anyone wishing to get married. Despite this relative ease to enter marriage, there are a sizeable numbers of British Muslims who are entering into informal marriages. Maintaining concise and proper marriage registers has been practiced since the first Marriage Act of 1753, however there are frequent reports of ‘unregistered marriages’ occurring. Such informal arrangements have no status in law; given there is no compliance with the formalities stipulated by the Marriage Act 1949 (the current law). This issue seems to primarily affect just one group, British Muslims.
Such informal marriage arrangements fall outside the current law and are given no status or recognition by the courts. Despite several attempts to resolve this seemingly easy to answer problem, over a decade on, there has been very little progress made. In the meantime, British Muslim wives continue to face great difficulty when their religious-only marriages come to an end, their ability to seek fair asset distribution in the court fails and they are left with no where to turn. These British women have no alternative other than to engage in unofficial mediation to resolve their marital issues.
What are the causes of such ignorance of the law, and why does this particular issue cause distress to only one British minority group?
Recent high court judgments make it clear that such informal arrangements are not capable of being recognised as marriages and consequently, no benefits (or powers of the court) can be exercised. Instead of seeking reform and introduction of Muslim marriage in the UK, as others have tried and failed to advocate, the outcome of this research proposes solutions that will not only assist those at the heart of this study, but the wider population.
Papers by Vishal Vora
Introductory Article:
‘How Could English Courts Recognize Shariah?‘ (John R. Bowen).
Reference: University of St. Thomas Law Journal, 7(3), 2010, 411–35.
Presentation abstract:
The question of marriage validity is not novel; the answer could only be valid or void. What changed in 1997 was the formation of a new category called non-marriage. Certain religious marriages are considered so far from being what parliament intended, that they can only be deemed a non-event and give rise to no legal rights. In a short space of time there have been a number of cases involving the validity of Islamic marriages, entered into with good faith and via a ceremony, yet nearly all have been declared non-marriages. Is this judicial ‘wrong-turn’ being used too casually? Has the time come to recognise religious and belief marriages and if so, what may be the best mechanism?
Biography:
Vishal’s PhD research focuses on second-generation British Muslims, their marriage practices, and their interaction and conflict with the law due to religious and ethnic identity. He project examines the rights of women unknowingly ‘cohabiting as married’. He is a member of the Ministry of Justice Working Group on Muslim Marriage.
The marriage laws of England and Wales are straightforward and easily accessible to anyone wishing to get married. Despite this relative ease to enter marriage, there are a sizeable numbers of British Muslims who are entering into informal marriages. Maintaining concise and proper marriage registers has been practiced since the first Marriage Act of 1753, however there are frequent reports of ‘unregistered marriages’ occurring. Such informal arrangements have no status in law; given there is no compliance with the formalities stipulated by the Marriage Act 1949 (the current law). This issue seems to primarily affect just one group, British Muslims.
Such informal marriage arrangements fall outside the current law and are given no status or recognition by the courts. Despite several attempts to resolve this seemingly easy to answer problem, over a decade on, there has been very little progress made. In the meantime, British Muslim wives continue to face great difficulty when their religious-only marriages come to an end, their ability to seek fair asset distribution in the court fails and they are left with no where to turn. These British women have no alternative other than to engage in unofficial mediation to resolve their marital issues.
What are the causes of such ignorance of the law, and why does this particular issue cause distress to only one British minority group?
Recent high court judgments make it clear that such informal arrangements are not capable of being recognised as marriages and consequently, no benefits (or powers of the court) can be exercised. Instead of seeking reform and introduction of Muslim marriage in the UK, as others have tried and failed to advocate, the outcome of this research proposes solutions that will not only assist those at the heart of this study, but the wider population.