Problematic aspects of consent in marriages of convenience in Chile

Abstract

The phenomenon of marriages celebrated with ends foreign to the institution of matrimony is widely known in civil society. These are marriages, known as ‘marriages of convenience’, ‘sham marriages’, etc., in which there is no genuine intent to enter into the married state. Today, this phenomenon has once more become a topical issue due to the numerous migratory movements that have given the debate a new angle, and the present analysis addresses this perspective.

This paper examines some problematic aspects of the topic, starting from the absence of any laws dealing with the phenomenon in Chile, which would logically culminate in legal sanctions against commission of this deed. The author develops some of his reasons in order to consider the non-existence of laws or legal sanctions.