The court's finding was based on section 9 of the Constitution of South Africa, particularly on the right to equal protection and benefit of the law in section 9(1) and the explicit prohibition on discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation, in section 9(3). The common law and section 30(1) of the Marriage Act denied same-sex couples equal protection and benefit of the law, in conflict with section 9(1) of the Constitution, and taken together resulted in same-sex couples being subjected to unfair discrimination by the State, in conflict with section 9(3) of the Constitution. When evaluated in the context of the legal regime as a whole, the common-law definition of marriage and section 30(1) of the Marriage Act were under-inclusive, Sachs found, and unconstitutional to the extent that they made no appropriate provision for gay and lesbian people to celebrate their unions in the same way that they enabled heterosexual couples to do. This violation of the equality and dignity rights of same-sex couples was not justified as contemplated in section 36 of the Constitution.