Dispense marriage
A dispense marriage , also popularly known as Sever marriage , is a heavily controversial legal instrument in Austria during the interwar period . As governor , Albert Sever made the so-called "Sever marriages" possible, the remarriage of divorced Catholics. According to church principles, a second marriage is still forbidden to this day. A compulsory civil marriage with the possibility of divorce did not exist in Austria before 1938; the regulations were based on the respective denomination. The Catholic Church and the Christian Social Party achieved this . However, by means of an ordinance, Sever created the opportunity to apply to the governor for a dispensation from this ban. In this way, “wild” marriages could be made state-recognized.
The Constitutional Court (VfGH) and the Supreme Court ( OGH ) disagreed on this matter. The Supreme Court saw Sever's regulation and the remarriages of divorced people based on it as invalid, the VfGH declared it valid. Over 15,000 couples made use of this option of dispensing with the impediment to marriage of the existing marriage bond. One spoke of the so-called "Sever marriages". The Constitutional Court, which considered the dispensation to be valid, was then “depoliticized” in 1929 with effect from February 15, 1930, and the constitutional judges appointed for life were reappointed. The respected constitutional lawyer Hans Kelsen , who was considered the “father of the constitutional court” but also a proponent of dispense marriage, was no longer accepted into the group of judges.
literature
- Ulrike Harmat: marriage on revocation? The conflict over marriage law in Austria 1918–1938 , Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt / Main 1999