In a guest post, Neil Addison questions the legality of the current ban on weddings.

The coronavirus pandemic has bought most aspects of normal life to an end in the UK. Most of the restrictions have been brought in through Statutory Instruments under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, the most far-reaching of which is The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 which came into force at 1 pm on 26 March 2020 (equivalent Regulations for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were made by the relevant devolved administrations).

One of the effects of the Regulations has been to prevent any marriages taking place and considering the amount of publicity there has been about police enforcement and legal overreach with these Regulations, there has been surprisingly little comment on whether the blanket restriction on marriage is either necessary or lawful. Continue reading →