Nullity of Marriage Act 1971

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The Nullity of Marriage Act 1971 was the first time in British law that marriage was defined as being between a male and a female. A marriage could therefore be annulled if the partners were not respectively male and female.

Reading the Hansard record of the passage of the Nullity of Marriage Bill there was fear expressed that someone could purport to be a member of the opposite sex in order to trap someone in a marriage.

These fears have largely been reversed by the passage of the Civil Partnerships legislation.