Data Protection Act protects a bigamist

DanuZii

Hey, I am confused over the application of Data Protection Acts.
Shortly - I married a guy from Asia. Our marriage cert indicates that he has never been married. It turned out that my husband married a woman in his home country few years before our marriage and divorced her two years after marrying me.
Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service are having a copy of his first marriage certificate.
Under Irish law my marriage is not valid. I was looking to obtain a copy of his first marriage cert to apply for a marriage annulment, but INIS advised me that under Data Protection Act they cannot issue a copy to me as this document "does not relate specifically to me".
My understanding is that my husbands first marriage certificate relates to me be because it directly affects the status of my marriage.
It seems to me that that Data Protection Act protects a criminal or am i wrong?

GM228

DanuZii wrote: »

Hey, I am confused over the application of Data Protection Acts.
Shortly - I married a guy from Asia. Our marriage cert indicates that he has never been married. It turned out that my husband married a woman in his home country few years before our marriage and divorced her two years after marrying me.
Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service are having a copy of his first marriage certificate.
Under Irish law my marriage is not valid. I was looking to obtain a copy of his first marriage cert to apply for a marriage annulment, but INIS advised me that under Data Protection Act they cannot issue a copy to me as this document "does not relate specifically to me".
My understanding is that my husbands first marriage certificate relates to me be because it directly affects the status of my marriage.
It seems to me that that Data Protection Act protects a criminal or am i wrong?

The first marriage certificate may affect the status of your marriage, however it holds no information which relates to or identifies you and therefore you have no right of access to it.

Victor

You should be able to access it from the Registrar the place he was married.

DanuZii

The problem is that there is no central marriage registry in that country, every marriage cert is held with local registrar - therefore getting a copy from INIS would help me to find out the locality and obtain their divorce documents too (assuming they divorced in the same locality). There are more than 10 million people in the city where my "husband" comes from.

Fred Swanson

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gizmo555

DanuZii wrote: »

Hey, I am confused over the application of Data Protection Acts.
Shortly - I married a guy from Asia. Our marriage cert indicates that he has never been married. It turned out that my husband married a woman in his home country few years before our marriage and divorced her two years after marrying me.
Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service are having a copy of his first marriage certificate.
Under Irish law my marriage is not valid. I was looking to obtain a copy of his first marriage cert to apply for a marriage annulment, but INIS advised me that under Data Protection Act they cannot issue a copy to me as this document "does not relate specifically to me".
My understanding is that my husbands first marriage certificate relates to me be because it directly affects the status of my marriage.
It seems to me that that Data Protection Act protects a criminal or am i wrong?

Try contacting the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner to get their view on whether the INIS stance is justified:

www.dataprotection.ie

Separately, bigamy is a crime. You could make a complaint to the Gardaí and tell them that definitive proof is in the hands of the INIS.

Little CuChulainn

gizmo555 wrote: »

Separately, bigamy is a crime. You could make a complaint to the Gardaí and tell them that definitive proof is in the hands of the INIS.

That still won't get the op a copy though.

gizmo555

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

That still won't get the op a copy though.

Presumably if the OP's husband was convicted of bigamy, that would be enough to obtain an annulment?

The OP might also be able to use the threat of a complaint to the Gardaí to persuade her husband to get her a copy of the cert from the INIS.

ohnonotgmail

Is his immigration status here dependent on his marriage to you?

Victor

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Is his immigration status here dependent on his marriage to you?

I'm guessing that INIS are saying he isn't married.

GM228

If he was married already then your marriage is what's known as a "void" marriage (i.e there was no capacity) - it is regarded as never having actually happened, there is no need to go to court to obtain an annulment if you are certain the marriage was legal and in force at the time you married.

You can simply act as though the marriage never happened. You can even re-marry if you so wish as there is no impediment. If the INIS confirm he isn't legally married to you that should be satisfaction enough if future issues arose.

It is advisable however to obtain a court order though declaring that your marriage is annulled in order to remove any doubt.

If you go to court for the annulment then you don't specifically need (and can't legally be given to you by the INIS) any marriage/divorce documentation as the court could compel the INIS to disclose (to the court, but not you) any evidence it has to prove the marriage is a void marriage.

I also suggest that despite what I (or anybody on Boards) suggest that you still obtain the advice of a competent solicitor to get proper legal advice and direction.

DanuZii

Thanks all for your advices and suggestions.
Gizmo555 – I have contacted Data Protection Commissioner and got a confirmation that INIS is compliant with Data Protection Acts. Though, I will go to Garda and make a report.
Victor – I do not know INIS view in this matter.
GM228 – I have been to solicitor and been advised that it will be more than 12k to get an annulment through the court.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.