Legally recognized forms of contracting a religious marriage in Spain. Amending of regulations pursuant to the Act of 2 July 2015 concerning jurisdiction in non-contentious proceedings

Abstract

The article analyzes changes in the Law of Spain which were introduced by the Act of jurisdiction in non-contentious proceedings of 2 July 2015 in the area of contracting a marriage in the religious form. Until the implementation of the above-mentioned act, the Spanish legislator had accepted the civil consequences of marriages contracted in the religious form by the faithful from those churches and religious organizations that had signed agreements concerning cooperation with the state. Those had been marriages of people belonging to the Roman Catholic Church (concordat agreements from the years 1976-1979), as well as the religious organizations gathered in the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, and the Islamic Commission of Spain (agreements concerning cooperation with the state of 1992). Pursuant to the Act of 2 July 2015, the Spanish legislator extended the list of the faithful who could contract a marriage in the religious form typical of their faith, including in it those people who belonged to registered religious organizations with the status of being “permanently entrenched” (notorio arraigo) in the social reality of Spain. They were people belonging to Orthodox Churches, Buddhists, Mormons, and Witnesses of Jehovah.