The Legal Status of IRR Union under the Federal Revised Family Code

The conclusion of a marriage is required to be made in one of the three modes of celebration under the revised family code as a distinguishing element which is a fundamental criterion for differentiating marriage from an irregular union. Despite the legal significance of the celebration of a marriage as a decisive element in the conclusion and proof of a marriage, the cassation division of the federal supreme court decided in various cases that an irregular union was considered to constitute as a marriage in the absence of proof of celebration during evaluating possession of status of spouses and possession of status of persons. In different decisions, the court essentially disregarded the need for proof of the celebration of the marriage during possession of status of spouses.The researcher argues that the decisions contradicts with the relevant legal rules and principles. Thus, this LLB work attempts to make a critical analysis of the various legal issues involved in the thesis at different levels with particular emphasis on the decisions of the federal supreme court cassation division.