She married a bigamist. Now what?

She must be shocked and devastated about what happened. The answer to your first question is no, your sister’s marriage would not be, and cannot in fact be considered to be legal. This man’s marriage was still intact and his wife still alive at the date he purported to go through the marriage ceremony with your sister, and so the Jamaican marriage ceremony is void in law and in fact.

You see, once a marriage ceremony is done legally in any country and still subsists, neither party to such a marriage can go to another country and without divorcing the first spouse, purport to marry another person in the other country and expect it to be legal, even if that first country is a foreign country. In your sister’s case, that country is also a Commonwealth country.

This act by this man is generally recognised as the criminal offence of bigamy. Here in Jamaica, this is spelt out in Section 71 of the Offences Against the Person Act, which states that anyone who is married and marries another person during the lifetime of the first husband or wife, whether the second marriage takes place in Jamaica or some other country, shall be guilty of the felony of bigamy, and if convicted can be imprisoned for a maximum of four years with or without hard labour. It must be proven that the offending husband or wife knew that their first spouse was still alive at the time of their purported second marriage.

Then, in our Matrimonial Causes Act 1989, under the rubric “Grounds for pronouncing decrees of nullity of marriage” Section 4, it provides in Section 4(1) that decrees of nullity of marriage may be pronounced by the court on the ground that the marriage is void on any of the stated grounds, the first of which, for your particular case, is Section 4(1)(a) “One of the parties to the marriage had a husband or wife living at the time of the marriage”. Then, the Marriage Act 1897, in Section 66 under the rubric “Fraudulent ceremony of marriage with a party believing it valid”, provides that a person who goes through a ceremony of marriage knowing that the marriage is void on any ground (he knew was married), and that the other person (your sister) believes it to be valid, shall be liable, if convicted, to imprisonment for ten years.

This means that though your sister has not yet petitioned for and obtained a decree of nullity from the Supreme Court, her marriage is void and it cannot be validated at all.

To your second question, your sister should retain the services of an attorney-atlaw to represent her to prepare her petition for a Decree of Nullity to be pronounced by the Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica.

Your third question is whether your sister has to go through a divorce. Strictly speaking, on a strict reading of the provisions of the the Matrimonial Causes Act, she needs not petition for a divorce, or its formal legal title for a Decree of Dissolution of Marriage, which in the Act is dealt with in Section 5, the ground for which is that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. This is completely different from the ground for a Decree of Nullity.

However, her attorney-at-law would deal with her petition in the manner necessary to restore her legal status based on the true facts of her situation, and the Dominican man must be served with the petition and supporting documents in Dominica where you say he has returned to reside.

She should discuss with her lawyer whether or not the authorities in Dominica ought to be informed of his fraudulent and bigamous act. She should try to act by obtaining legal representation as quickly as she can, as the grant of the decree shall go a long way to lessen her emotional upset and sense of self-worth from the offence committed against her by that man, through no fault of her own. I wish her all the very best.