XI - THE JUDGEMENT OF MR. JUSTICE BROWN, 2 DECEMBER 1950

Summary

The High Court had now to decide two related issues remaining from Originating Summons No. 248 of 1950, namely the legality of marriage and the custody of Maria.

Mr. E.D. Shearn and Mr. K.A. Seth appeared for Maria's parents, the plaintiffs. Inche Sardon Jubir represented Che Aminah, Inche Ahmad Ibrahim was for Maria and Mr. John Eber (in forma pauperis) for Mansoor Adabi.

Mansoor Adabi did not appear at the hearing, which began on 20 November. A week before, he had been injured in a motorcycle accident in Serangoon Road and was still in hospital with serious facial and head injuries. Both Che Aminah and Mrs. Hertogh gave evidence.

Mr. Justice Brown delivered judgement on Saturday, 2 December. He reviewed the history of the case in some detail, according to the evidence placed before him. Most of the background which he described has already been included in this account.

The Judge held that Maria's country of domicile was, in law, that of her father, namely, Holland. Under the law of Holland, she had no capacity to marry because she was under 16. He went on to refer to the general rule of English law (applying in Singapore) that a person's capacity to marry was governed by the law of his or her domicile and that no marriage was valid unless each party had the capacity, according to the law of his or her domicile, to marry the other.

There was however a possible exception to this rule which provided that the validity of a marriage celebrated in Singapore between persons, one of whom had a Singaporean, and the other a foreign, domicile, was not affected by any incapacity which, though existing under the law of such foreign domicile, did not exist under the law of Singapore. Singapore recognized Muslim law and, if the exception was to be applied, it had to be shown that Mansoor's country of domicile was Singapore and that Maria was, in law, a Muslim.