Government has announced that it will appeal a Western Cape High Court judgment on Muslim marriages. In August, the court ordered that the executive and Parliament pass legislation providing for the recognition and dissolution of marriages concluded under Islamic Law within two years.
The decision to appeal the judgment was taken after consultations between the President, the executive and the Justice Department.
The Department of Justice says the decision was made for three primary reasons. The initial applicant lodged an appeal with the Constitutional Court because the high court did not give her immediate relief in a marriage that was dissolved in terms of Islamic Law.
The department says the high court acknowledged that Government is researching an Omnibus Law to deal with the dissolution of all religious marriages.
Parliament says the decision of the Full Bench has immediate implications on all other religious marriages which have not been registered as secular marriages in terms of the Marriage Act.
