It requires that the marriage be assessed by the Catholic Tribunal to have a declaration of nullity issued. Then both parties are free to remarry. If one, or both are Catholic, their marriage should be in the Catholic Church.
So the case is that a Catholic at the time of marriage had a civil marriage only and then later a civil divorce. A Catholic at the time of marriage is obligated to follow the Catholic form of marriage unless lawfully dispensed. A civil ceremony is not the Catholic form of marriage. If the Catholic in this situation wants to receive the Sacrament of Matrimony in the Catholic Church then he or she needs to petition for a declaration of nullity from the diocesean tribunnal. Of course he or she also has to be free to marry, e.g. the other party is not already married etc.
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