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I am not familiar with the 1951 edition but I thought I would pipe in two observations: (1) In Canada, British law passed after Confederation on purely domestic matters had very little, if any, application. The division of powers in the then British North America Act, 1867 (since renamed The Constitution Act, 1867) the powers given either to the federal government under s.91 or to the provinces under s.92 or 93 or 109 were inherited from which ever body had those powers prior to the coming into force of the Act. Hence, the federal power over "Marriage and Divorce" and the provincial powers over "the solemnization of marriage" would have pretty much covered the ground. The federal or provincial legislatures might have inherited British laws regarding marriage as they were on June 30, 1867 but the capacity to amend those laws lay, ever after, entirely with the inheriting legislatures. (2) The Statute of Westminster, 1931 specifically provided that all British laws ceased to apply to the dominions with the exception of the capacity to amend the British North America Act a power which Canada took over in 1982. Hence, even if the 1908 Act could be argued to have some application in Canada, the 1951 Act would be excluded from Canada by virtue of the Statute of Westminster. Best regards, Michael Posluns.
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