A Justice at the Court of Appeal, Justice Alexander Osei Tutu, says a marriage is considered non-existent if it is not consummated. According to him, for a marriage to be legally recognised, it must go beyond the legal processes and ceremonial aspects; it must be consummated through sexual intercourse. He made this known while contributing to the topic 'Are You Sure You're Married?' on JoyNews' The Law on Sunday. "A marriage is expected to be consummated. So if you go through the legal processes and after the wedding, there is no sex, the marriage will not be deemed to have been perfected. "When the marriage is not consummated it is not complete, so there is no marriage," he explained. He further clarified that even if a couple has lived together for over a year and has fulfilled all other marital requirements, the absence of consummation means that, legally, the marriage does not exist.