The Recognition of a Religious Ahmadi Marriage in Belgium
by Frederik Welvaert and Jinske Verhellen
Question(s) at stake
Whether an Ahmadi marriage, which is not legally recognized in Pakistan, can be recognized in Belgium.
Outcome of the ruling
An Ahmadi marriage cannot be recognized in Belgium because it is legally non-existent in Pakistan, the country where the marriage was celebrated (lex loci celebrationis). Recourse to an infringement of the public order cannot remedy this, although the marriage’s non-existence stemmed from Pakistani law discriminating against the Ahmadi minority.
Country:
Official citation
Family Court of Brussels 18 November 2019 (Familierechtbank Brussel 18 november 2019)
Topic(s)
Keywords:
Recognition Religious marriage
Tag(s):
Bibliographic information
Access case report
View case report in the CUREDI databaseAbout the authors
Frederik Welvaert (Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, Netherlands)
Jinske Verhellen (Ghent University, Belgium)
Jinske Verhellen studied Law and Anthropology. She has always combined these two disciplines in her work, both in academia and in practice (as an attorney, as a staff member of the Ghent City contact point for discrimination reports, etc.). In 2006, Jinske Verhellen had the unique opportunity to help establish the Private International Law Centre in Brussels (now part of the Agentschap Integratie en Inburgering), which gives advice and does policy work in the field of private international law in family matters. In January 2009, she returned to Ghent University, where in 2012 she obtained her doctoral degree on 'The Belgian Code of Private International Law in family matters' (financed by the Research Foundation - Flanders). Since 2014, she is Professor of Law at Ghent University, lecturing private international law, international family law and notarial private international law.
Jinske Verhellen is a member of the Ghent University Interfaculty Research Group CESSMIR (Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees) and the Ghent University Human Rights Network. Since 2015, she is the President of the Diversity Commission of the Ghent Faculty of Law and Criminology and in 2020 she was asked to chair the Anti-discrimination Commission of the Ghent University.
For the CUREDI project Jinske Verhellen serves in the coordination team, the editorial board and acts as reviewer.
Jinske Verhellen has published on various aspects of private international law, international family law, migration law and nationality law (full publication list can be found here). She is currently Chief Editor of the Belgian Private International Law Journal (Tijdschrift@ipr.be / Revue@dipr.be) and a member of several editorial boards.