<P> The Council of Trent (convened 1545--1563) ruled that in the future a marriage was only valid in Roman Catholic countries if it was witnessed by a priest of the Roman Catholic Church or, if obtaining a priest were impractical, by other witnesses . This ruling was not accepted in the newly Protestant nations of Europe, nor by Protestants who lived in Roman Catholic countries or their colonies, nor by Eastern Orthodox Christians . </P> <P> Common - law marriages were abolished in England and Wales by the Marriage Act 1753 . The act required marriages to be performed by a priest of the Church of England, unless the participants in the marriage were Jews or Quakers . The Act applied to Ireland after the Act of Union 1800, but the requirement for a valid marriage to be performed by a Church of England priest created special problems in predominantly Roman Catholic Ireland . The law did not provide an exception . The Act did not apply to Scotland because by the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland retained its own legal system . To get around the requirements of the Marriage Act, such as minimum - age requirements, couples would go to Gretna Green in southern Scotland, to get married under Scottish law . (Such as Lydia Bennet and George Wickham in Pride and Prejudice .) </P> <P> The Marriage Act of 1753 also did not apply to Britain's overseas colonies of the time, so common - law marriages continued to be recognized in the future United States and Canada . In the United States, common - law marriages are still recognized in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and the District of Columbia, and in several Canadian provinces . </P> <P> All countries in Europe have now abolished "marriage by habit and repute", with Scotland being the last to do so in 2006 . </P>

Who has the right to establish laws for marriage