ABSTRACT
This ground applies only to decrees of divorce and orders of legal separation. According to s 52(2), the English court has a discretion to refuse to recognise such decrees where the decree is inconsistent with a prior holding by an English court or a foreign court under the rules of private international law that the marriage is itself a nullity. Clearly, a marriage cannot be terminated by divorce after it has previously been declared to be a nullity. Manifestly, there is some overlap between this provision and that of res judicata. For example, if a nullity decree is pronounced in country A and a divorce is granted in country B, then any attempt to seek recognition of the divorce would be met by an assertion that the matter was not only res judicata but, also, at variance with the prior nullity decree. It is possible to imagine circumstances coming within this head where a divorce is granted in country A in respect of matters which, in England, would be grounds for a decree of nullity.
