Małżeństwo pośmiertne jako instytucja prawna

Michał Tadeusz Najman

doi:10.18290/rnp25352.2

Published : 2025-09-24

Vol. 35 No. 2 (2025)

Posthumous Marriage as a Legal Institution

Michał Tadeusz Najman

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8207-8458

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rnp25352.2

Abstract

A person’s death creates rights related to the deceased’s estate on the part of living people as well as obligations related to the protection of certain values that a given community considers in order to require posthumous protection. This is associated with the tacit recognition of the survivability of some of the deceased’s goods or interests as well as the goods or interests of people close to the deceased. Sometimes the departure from the world of the living destroys planned undertakings, which has unfavorable consequences for the survivors. Such an example is a failure to conclude a marriage due to the death of one of the spouses. In some cultures, the institution of posthumous marriage, also known as ghost marriage, has been developed and implemented in legal order. The aim of the article is to present the legal institution of posthumous marriage, which is still in force in some legal orders today, as well as to demonstrate its axiological basis and the legal interest in its existence. An attempt has also been made to indicate the potential benefits and threats resulting from the validity of this institution in law.

Keywords:

marriage, death, ghost, posthumous marriage

Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

pdf (Język Polski)

Altmetric indicators

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Bäckström Bárbara M.G.G., Death, Mourning and Post-Death Rituals of Elderly Migrants, „Mortality” 25 (2020), nr 2, s. 220-231.

Belliotti Raymond A., Do Dead Human Beings Have Rights?, „The Personalist” 60 (1979), nr 2, s. 201-210.

Birnhack Michael, The Rights of the Dead, the Freedom of the Living, „Tel Aviv Law Review” 31 (2008), nr 1, s. 57-114.

Bremen van Jan, Death Rites in Japan in the Twentieth Century, [w:] Interpreting Japanese Society, red. J. Hendry, wyd. 2, Londyn–Nowy York 2002, s. 131-144.

Burton John W., Ghost Marriage and the Cattle Trade among the Atuot of the Southern Sudan, „Africa: Journal of the International African Institute” 48 (1978), nr 4, s. 398-405.

Cameron Florence F., Defamation Survivability and the Demise of the Antiquated “Actio Personalis” Doctrine, „Columbia Law Review” 85 (1985), nr 8, s. 1833-1851.

Carrin Marine, When Fearful Ghosts Are Married in Tulunadu, „International Quarterly for Asian Studies” 49 (2018), nr 3-4, s. 103-122.

Charity Agbo M., Posthumous Marriage in Igbo Land, Southeastern Nigeria and Its Effects on Child Development and Education, „International Journal of Psychology and Counselling” 8 (2016), nr 3, s. 28-33.

Conte Edouard, Épouser un héros mort. « Pureté de sang » et mariages posthumes dans le Reich nazi, „Terrain – Anthropologie & sciences humaines” (1998), nr 31, https://journals.open edition.org/terrain/3134#ftn1 [dostęp 10.03.2025].

Copart Isabelle, Le marriage posthume d’une personne decedee des suites d’un accident de la circulation, „Journal des accidents et des catastrophes” (2012), nr 42, https://archive.ph/NvId [dostęp 10.03.2025].

Evans-Pritchard Edward E., Some Aspects of Marriage and the Family among the Nuer, Lusaka 1945.

Freud Sigmund, Civilization and Its Discontents, Nowy Jork 1962.

Gephart Werner, Witte Daniel, The Social, the Sacred and the Cult of Law, [w:] The Sacred and the Law: The Durkheimian Legacy, red. W. Gephart, D. Witte, Frankfurt nad Menem 2017, s. 7-30.

Jovanović Nataša, From Posthuman to Posthumous and Back, „AM Časopis za studije umetnosti i medija” (2018), nr 17, s. 139-145.

Krige Eileen J., Woman-Marriage, with Special Reference to the Louedu—Its Significance for the Definition of Marriage, „Africa” 44 (1974), nr 1, s. 11-37.

Latić Denisa, ‘Till Death Do Us Wed’—About Ghost Brides and Ghost Weddings in Hong Kong English, [w:] Cultural Linguistics and World Englishes, red. M. Sadeghpour, F. Sharifian, Singapur 2020, s. 129-142.

Lo T. Wing, Ghost Brides and Crime Networks in Rural China, „Asian Journal of Criminology” 17 (2022), nr 3, s. 371-389.

Macready John D., Hannah Arendt and the Fragility of Human Dignity, Lanham 2018.

Makarewicz Juliusz, Wstęp do filozofii prawa karnego w oparciu o podstawy historyczno-rozwojowe, Lublin 2009.

Mazurkiewicz Jacek, Non omnis moriar. Ochrona dóbr osobistych zmarłego w prawie polskim, Wrocław 2010.

Minakata Kumagusu, Marriage of the Dead, „Nature” (1897), nr 55, s. 224-225.

Nabokov Isabelle, When the Dead Become Brides, Gods, and Gold: Marriage Symbolism in a Tamil Household Ritual, „Journal of Ritual Studies” 10 (1996), nr 1, s. 113-133.

Najman Michał, The Object Protected by the Criminalization of Insult to a Human Corpse in Polish Law, „Gdańskie Studia Prawnicze” (2024), nr 3(64), s. 118-136.

Paradowski Mariusz, Małżeństwo jako instytucja prawa publicznego, „Roczniki Administracji i Prawa” 23 (2023), nr 4, s. 185-203.

Raghuvanshi Devi, The Flame That Still Burns (Necrogamy), Delhi 2022.

Rudnicki Stanisław, O niektórych małżeństwach nie istniejących, „Palestra” 10 (1966), nr 6, s. 72-75.

Schattschneider Ellen, “Buy Me a Bride”: Death and Exchange in Northern Japanese Bride‐Doll Marriage, „American Ethnologist” 28 (2001), nr 4, s. 854-880.

Schwartze Lucas J., Grave Vows: A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Varying Forms of Ghost Marriage among Five Societies, „Nebraska Anthropologist” 25 (2010), s. 82-95.

Selinger Leah, The Forgotten Factor: The Uneasy Relationship between Religion and Development, „Social Compass” 51 (2004), nr 4, s. 523-543.

Singer Alice, Marriage Payments and the Exchange of People, „MAN” 8 (1973), nr 1, s. 80-92.

Singh Renuka, Linking Death with Marriage: Seeing Death through a Different Lens, „Culture & Psychology” (2024), OnlineFirst, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X241300976 [dostęp 31.03.2025].

Smolensky Kirsten R., Rights of the Dead, „Hofstra Law Review” 37 (2009), nr 3, s. 763-803.

Stern Orly, ‘This Is How Marriage Happens Sometimes’: Women and Marriage in South Sudan, [w:] Hope, Pain & Patience. The Lives of Women in South Sudan, red. F. Bubenzer, O. Stern, Wynberg 2011, s. 1-24.

Topley Marjorie, Ghost Marriages among the Singapore Chinese, „MAN” 55 (1955), s. 29-30.

Verdon Michel, Where Have All Their Lineages Gone? Cattle and Descent among the Nuer, „American Anthropologist” 84 (1982), nr 3, s. 566-579.

Walraven Boudewijn, Ghost Catchers in Contemporary Korea, „Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies” 6 (2006), nr 1, s. 1-30.

Wang Yu, Ghost Marriage in Twentieth-Century Chinese Literature: Between the Past and the Future, „Frontiers of Literary Studies in China” 10 (2016), nr 1, s. 86-102.

www.sohu.com/a/114684084_268525 [dostęp 12.03.2025].

Zdanowicz Urszula, Zalewski Tomasz, Realność ochrony dóbr osobistych naruszonych za pośrednictwem Internetu a konstytucyjna gwarancja prawa do sądu, „Palestra” (2025), nr 1, s. 176-191.

Zhou Wenzhang, Feng Yang, When Religious Folk Practice Meet Karl Marx: Courts’ Response to Ghost Marriage in Modern China, „Religions” 14 (2023), nr 6, https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/6/764 [dostęp 10.03.2025].

Znaniecki Florian, Ludzie teraźniejsi a cywilizacja przyszłości, Lwów–Warszawa 1934.