Case No. UKUT-00180-(IAC)

(Proxy marriages – EU law) [2014] UKUT 00024 (IAC) . 3. In cases where a divorce has taken place prior to the proxy marriage and there is an issue as to whether the parties were free to marry, it is for an appellant to show that the dissolution of the previous marriage was in accordance with the laws of the country in which it occurred. DECISION AND REASONS Introduction 1. By a decision promulgated on 23 December 2014, Upper Tribunal Judge Rintoul found that the First-tier Tribunal had materially erred in law when allowing the appeal of the respondent (whom we shall call the claimant) against the decision of the Secretary of State (whom we shall call the respondent), dated 8 January 2014, refusing to issue her with a residence card under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (the Regulations) as confirmation of her right of residence in the United Kingdom as the spouse of a Dutch national exercising Treaty rights. Upper Tribunal Judge Rintoul’s error of law decision is set out in full at Annex A. 2. In summary, it was found that First-tier Tribunal Judge Dineen erred by relying solely on an item of Dutch legislation entitled “Conflict of Law Rules for Marriages” to conclude that the claimant’s proxy marriage to her husband in Ghana was valid for the purposes of Dutch law. This approach was contrary to the decisions in Kareem (Proxy marriages – EU law) [2014] UKUT 00024 (IAC) ( Kareem ) and