LONDON, April 10 (UPI) -- British immigration rules instituted to block so-called sham marriages by immigrants has been overturned by the nation's High Court.
The court, sitting in London, ruled Monday the provisions were in violation of Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights protecting the right to marry.
The Evening Standard reported that it said there was "no adequate justification" for the Home Office rules to be used as a method of immigration control and that the rules were a form of discrimination.
The nub of the ruling centered on the application of the immigration rules, which were part of the 2004 Asylum and Immigration Act. As written, marriages between a legal immigrant to Britain and an illegal alien cannot be performed in the United Kingdom with one exception -- a marriage performed in the official Church of England, since it is presumed the church adequately screens couples to ensure the marriage would not be a sham to gain legal residency.
The provision was challenged by a number of couples, including Mahmoud Baiai, an Algerian Muslim, and Izabela Trzcinska, a Polish Roman Catholic and legal resident of Britain. Their application for marriage was turned down by authorities last year because of Baiai's legal status.
The judge said other faiths took steps to ensure the legitimate intent of the couples they marry, and to only allow an exception for the Church of England was discriminatory.
