MARRIAGES ACT, 1884-1985 (CAP. 127)
DATE OF PRESIDENTIAL ASSENT:
DATE OF GAZETTE NOTIFICATION:
Customary Marriages
On the commencement of this Act, a marriage contracted under customary law before or after the commencement may be registered in accordance with this Act.
(1) Where a marriage is contracted under customary law, either party to the marriage or both parties may apply in writing to the registrar of the district in which the marriage was contracted for the registration of the marriage in the register of marriages.
(2) The application for the registration of the marriage may be made at any time after the marriage, but the Minister responsible for Justice may at any time prescribe the periods within which the failure to register a customary marriage contracted before or after the commencement of this Act shall be an offence.
(3) The form of the register shall be as set out in the First Schedule.
(1) A statutory declaration shall be attached to the application for registration of the marriage stating
(a) the names of the parties to the marriage,
(b) the places of residence of the parties at the time of the marriage, and
(c) that the conditions essential to the validity of the marriage in accordance with the applicable customary law have been complied with.
(2) The statutory declaration shall be supported by
(a) the parents of the spouses, or
(b) the persons standing in the place of the parents living at the time of the application for registration.
(1) The Registrar of the district shall, on receipt of an application for the registration of a marriage, register the marriage and shall by notice in the form set out in the Second Schedule notify the public of the registration of the marriage.
(2) The notice shall be displayed on a public notice board at the office of the Registrar within twenty-eight days of the application for registration.
(1) A person who knows of a cause why the Registrar should not have registered the marriage, or objects to the validity of the marriage under the applicable customary law, may at any time after the publication of the notice under section 4, file the grounds of the objection in the District Court in the district in which the marriage was registered.
(2) Copies of the grounds of the objection shall be served on the parties affected by the objection.
(3) Where, on the hearing of the grounds of objection, the District Court
(a) is satisfied that legal grounds have not been established for the objection, the Court shall dismiss the objection; or
(b) is satisfied that there are legal grounds for the objection, the Court shall order the Registrar to expunge the entries made in the register in respect of the registration of the marriage to which the objection was made.
(1) The dissolution of a marriage registered under this Part shall be recorded by the Registrar of the district in the register of divorces which shall be in the form set out in the Third Schedule.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to a marriage dissolved under section 41 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1971 (Act 367).
(1) Where a marriage registered under this Part is dissolved in accordance with the applicable customary law, the parties shall, within the prescribed period, notify the Registrar of the district in which the marriage was registered of the dissolution.
(2) The parties in notifying the Registrar shall make a statutory declaration stating that the marriage has been dissolved in accordance with the applicable customary law.
(3) The statutory declaration shall be supported by
(a) the parents of the spouses, or
(b) the persons standing in the place of the parents living at the time of the application.
(4) The Registrar may, on receipt of the notification, record the dissolution in the register and may by notice in the form set out in the Second Schedule notify the public of the registration of the dissolution of the marriage.
(5) The notice shall be displayed on a public notice board at the office of the Registrar within twenty-eight days of the receipt of the notification.
(1) A person who knows of a cause why the Registrar should not have registered the dissolution of the marriage, or objects to the validity of the dissolution under the applicable customary law, may at any time after the publication of the notice under section 7, file the grounds of the objection in the District Court in the district in which the dissolution was registered.
(2) Copies of the grounds of objection shall be served on the parties affected by the objection.
(3) Where, on the hearing of the grounds of objection, the District Court
(a) is satisfied that legal grounds have not been established for the objection, the Court shall dismiss the objection; or
(b) is satisfied with the legal grounds for the objection, the Court shall order the Registrar to expunge the entries made in the register in respect of the dissolution of the marriage.
On the registration of a marriage or the dissolution of a marriage the Registrar shall issue to the parties concerned a certified true copy of the entry in the register on payment of the registration fee prescribed under this Part.
The grounds of an objection filed in the District Court under section 5 or 8 shall be heard in chambers.
The Registrar shall at a reasonable time allow a search to be made of the register and shall furnish on request and on payment of the prescribed fee a certified true copy of an entry in the register.
(1) A clerical error in a register may, if discovered at the time of making the entry, be corrected by the Registrar.
(2) An entry shall not be corrected nor an alteration made in the register except on the application by the person by whom the information is furnished to the registrar.
In any proceedings a true copy of the entry in the register certified and personally signed by the Registrar is admissible in evidence as sufficient proof of the registration of the marriage or the dissolution of the marriage.
A person who
(a) applies to the Registrar for the registration of a customary law marriage or dissolution which that person knows has not been lawfully contracted or dissolved under the applicable customary law,
(b) [Deleted by S.4 of P.N.D.C.L. 263]
(c) knowingly makes a false entry in the register or a certified copy of an entry, or
(d) with intent to defraud alters an entry in the register or certified copy of an entry, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding seven hundred and fifty penalty units or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three years or to both the fine and the imprisonment.
(1) The Intestate Succession Act, 1985 [P.N.D.C.L. 111] applies to a spouse of a customary law marriage registered under this Act.
(2) Despite subsection (1) where a Court is satisfied by oral or documentary evidence that a customary law marriage had been validly contracted between the deceased and a surviving spouse, the Court shall make an order for the estate of the intestate to be distributed in the same manner as a customary law marriage registered under this Act.
The Minister responsible for Justice may, by legislative instrument, make Regulations
(a) prescribing the periods within which customary law marriages contracted before or after the commencement of this Act shall be registered;
(b) prescribing the periods within which the dissolution of customary law marriages shall be registered;
(c) specifying the offences and the penalties for breach of a provision of this Part or of the Regulations;
(d) prescribing the necessary fees and generally making provision for the full implementation of this Part.
In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,
“Court” includes a court of competent jurisdiction and a tribunal;
“district” means the area of authority of a District Assembly, Metropolitan Assembly or a Municipal Assembly;
“prescribed” means prescribed under this Part or the Regulations;
“register” means the register kept by virtue of this Part for the registration or dissolution of marriages;
“registrar” means the registrar of marriages of the district in which a marriage or a dissolution of marriage is registered.
“Regulations” means the Regulations made under this Part.
On the commencement of this Part, the by-laws of a District Council relating to the registration of customary marriages and divorces shall cease to have effect and shall be deemed to have been cancelled by this Act.
Spent.
Marriage of Mohammedans
(1) The district chief executive of each district is the Registrar of Mohammedan marriages and divorces for that district.
(2) The district chief executive shall keep the Mohammedan marriage and divorce register which shall contain the entries and shall have the counterfoil certificates attached as provided for under this Part.
(1) The Minister responsible for the Interior may grant a licence in the Form A set out in the Fourth Schedule to a Mohammedan priest applying for the licence, who in the opinion of the Minister is a fit and proper person to perform the functions imposed by this Part on licensed priests.
(2) The Minister responsible for the Interior may at any time revoke or suspend that licence.
A list of Mohammedan priests who have been licensed under this Part during the quarters ending 31st day of March, 30th day of September, and 31st day of December in every year, or whose licences have been revoked or suspended during any of those quarters shall be published in the Gazette.
A Mohammedan marriage celebrated after the commencement of this Part shall be registered in the manner provided by section 24.
(1) The bridegroom, the bride’s wali, two witnesses to the marriage, and a Mohammedan priest licensed under section 21 shall as soon as conveniently may be, and before the expiration of a week after the celebration of the marriage, attend at the office of the district chief executive for the purpose of registering the marriage.
(2) The marriage shall be entered in the register and in the duplicate certificates in the Form B set out in the Fourth Schedule.
(3) The licensed priest shall first enter in the second column of the register and of the attached certificates the particulars specified in the first column.
(4) Where the entries in the second column of the register are made in a language other than English, an English translation made by a person duly sworn to interpret that language shall then be inserted in the third column of the register and of the certificates.
(5) The register and the certificates shall then be signed by the bridegroom, the brides’ wali, and the two witnesses who have attended for that purpose.
(6) The licensed priest shall then sign in the register and in both the marriage certificates, a certificate that the marriage is valid according to Mohammedan law.
(7) The sworn interpreter shall then sign in the register and the marriage certificates the certificate of the correctness of the English translation.
(8) The register and the certificates shall be completed by the signature of the district chief executive who shall insert the date and place of registration.
(9) The certificates shall then be detached from the register, and one shall be given to the bridegroom and the other to the bride’s wali.
(10) A Justice of the High Court, may on an ex parte application by the bridegroom or the bride’s wali, issue a certificate signed personally by the Justice to dispense with the signature of any person, other than a licensed priest,
(a) where the period of one week limited by subsection (1) has lapsed before the registration of a marriage which should have been so registered, or
(b) where it has been impossible or impracticable to obtain the attendance of a person, other than a licensed priest, whose signature of the register is required.
(11) The ex parte application shall be supported by an affidavit stating the reason for the delay or non-attendance.
A Mohammedan divorce effected after the commencement of this Part shall be registered in the manner provided by section 26.
(1) The man, the woman’s wali, and two witnesses to the divorce having been effected, and a Mohammedan priest licensed under section 21 shall, within one month of the divorce having been effected, attend at the office of the district chief executive for the purpose of registering the divorce.
(2) The divorce shall be entered in the register and in the duplicate certificates in the Form C set out in the Fourth Schedule.
(3) The licensed priest shall first enter in the second column of the register and of the attached certificates the particulars specified in the first column.
(4) Where the entries in the second column of the register are made in a language other than English, and English translation made by a person duly sworn to interpret that language shall then be inserted in the third column of the register and of the certificates.
(5) The register and the certificates shall then be signed by the man, the woman’s wali, and two witnesses to the divorce who have attended for that purpose.
(6) The licensed priest shall then sign in the register and in both the divorce certificates a certificate that the divorce is valid according to Mohammedan law.
(7) The sworn interpreter shall then sign in the register and the divorce certificates the certificate of the correctness of the English translation.
(8) The register and the certificates shall be completed by the signature of the district chief executive who shall insert the date and place of registration.
(9) The certificates shall then be detached from the register, and one shall be given to the man and the other to the woman’s wali.
(10) A Justice of the High Court may, on an ex parte application by the man or woman’s wali, issue a certificate signed personally by the Justice authorising the district chief executive to register the divorce at any time within one month from the date of the certificate, and on the registration to dispense with the signature of a person, other than a licensed priest,
(a) where a period of one month limited by subsection (1) has elapsed before the registration of a divorce which should have been so registered, or
(b) where it has been impossible or impracticable to obtain the attendance of a person, other than a licensed priest whose signature of the register is required.
(11) The ex parte application shall be supported by an affidavit stating the reason for the delay or non-attendance.
(1) A marriage contracted or divorce effected after the commencement of this Part by persons professing the Mohammedan faith is not valid unless registered under this Part.
(2) A marriage or divorce under this Part when the marriage or divorce is in issue, shall be proved by the production of the register in which the marriage or divorce is entered, or of an extract from the register certified and signed personally by the district chief executive or of the certificate of the marriage or divorce.
On the death of a Mohammedan whose marriage has been duly registered under this Part the succession to the property of that Mohammedan shall be regulated by Mohammedan law.
A district chief executive shall allow searches to be made at a reasonable time in a register in the custody of the district chief executive and shall on request give certified copies of or extracts from entries in English in the register.
For a licence taken out or registration effected under this Part, for a search, and for a certified copy of or extract from, a register, there shall be payable the fee prescribed therefor in the Form D set out in the Fourth Schedule.
The provisions of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 relating to false declaration shall apply to registers and certificates of marriage and divorce under this Act.
A person required by section 24 or section 26 who without good cause refuses to sign a register or certificate commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty penalty units.
The President may, by legislative instrument, make Regulations for further or better carrying into effect any of the purposes of this Part.
In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,
“district chief executive” means the district chief executive of the district in which the marriage is celebrated or the divorce is registered;
“divorce” means the irrevocable dissolution of a marriage registered under section 25;
“functions” includes powers and duties;
“register” means the Mohammedan marriage and divorce register kept by virtue of section 20.
Christian and Other Marriages
The President shall, by an executive instrument published in the Gazette, divide the Republic into districts for the purposes of this Part and may by an executive instrument published in the Gazette, alter the marriage districts, by the alteration of boundaries of a district or by the union or subdivisions of districts, or by the creation of new districts.
(1) The Minister responsible for the Interior
(a) may appoint a fit and proper person to be the registrar of marriages for each marriage district, and may revoke the appointment, and
(b) may appoint a deputy registrar or deputy registrars of marriages for a district.
(2) The Minister responsible for the Interior may appoint a deputy registrar of marriages for a particular place.
(3) A deputy registrar of marriages has, within the district or place for which the registrar is appointed, all the powers of a registrar of marriages.
(1) A registrar shall have an office at a place in the district as the Minister responsible for the Interior may determine.
(2) The office of the Principal Registrar shall be at the seat of government.
(1) The Minister responsible for the Interior may, by executive instrument, appoint a minister of religion to be a marriage officer for the marriage district or district named in the instrument, and may in like manner vary or suspend or revoke the appointment.
(2) An appointment, under subsection (1) shall take effect on publication in the Gazette.
(3) A minister who is appointed a marriage officer is not compellable to act as a marriage officer with respect to a marriage which is contrary to the rules of the religious denomination to which the Minister belongs.
Spent.
(1) A district chief executive may license a place of public worship within the district to be a place for the celebration of marriages, and may cancel the licence in a notice published in the Gazette.
(2) Notice of the licensing under subsection (1) or of the cancellation of the licence shall be published in the Gazette.
(3) Spent.
(4) Spent.
A marriage may be solemnised under the authority of
(a) a registrar’s certificate,
(b) a marriage officers certificate, or
(c) a special licence from the Registrar.
Where after the commencement of this Part any persons desire to marry under the authority of a registrar’s certificate, one of the parties to the intended marriage shall sign and give to the registrar of the district in which the marriage is intended to take place, a notice in the following form:
NOTICE OF MARRIAGE
To the registrar of marriages for the district of ..................................................
I hereby give you notice that a marriage is intended to be had within three months from the date of this notice between me the undersigned and the other party named in the notice.
| Name
Profession |
Condition | Occupation,
Rank or |
Age | Dwelling or Place of Abode | Consent, if any, and by whom given |
| Bridegroom
Bride … |
Bachelor or Widower
Spinster or Widow |
Boatman, etc. (as case may be)
Washer (as case may be) |
23
18 |
James Town,
Accra
Ussher Town, Accra |
Father |
Witness my signature this ............................ day of ...................................., 20............
……………………………………. Signature
(1) Where the person giving the notice is unable to write or is insufficiently acquainted with the English language, or both, then it is sufficient if that person places a mark or cross to the relevant document in the presence of a literate person who shall attest the notice.
(2) The attestation shall be in the following form:
Signed by .............................. at .................. on the day of ............................, 20........:
this paper, writing, or notice having been first read over to him (her) (or read over and truly interpreted to him (her) in the ................................ language), by ........................, he (she) seemed to understand the same and made his (her) mark thereto in my presence.
.................................................................... Signed
A registrar shall supply forms of notice gratuitously to persons applying for the forms.
(1) On receipt of the notice, the registrar
(a) shall enter the particulars in the marriage notice book, and
(b) shall publish the notice by causing a copy of it to be affixed on the outer door of the office, or on a notice board outside the office, and to be kept exposed there until the grant of the certificate, or until three months have elapsed.
(2) The marriage notice book may be inspected during office hours without the payment of a fee.
(1) The registrar shall, if satisfied that the conditions specified in subsection (2) have been complied with, at any time after the expiration of twenty-one days and before the expiration of three months from the date of the notice, and on payment of the prescribed fee, issue the certificate in the Form A set out in the Fifth Schedule.
(2) The registrar shall not issue the certificate until satisfied by affidavit
(a) that one of the parties has been resident within the district in which the marriage is intended to be celebrated at least fifteen days preceding the granting of the certificate,
(b) that each of the parties to the intended marriage who is not a widower or widow is twenty-one years old, or that if that party is under that age, the requisite consent has been obtained in writing and is annexed to the affidavit,
(c) that an impediment of kindred or affinity, or any other lawful hindrance to the marriage does not exist, and
(d) that neither of the parties to the intended marriage is married under the applicable customary law to a person other than the person with whom the marriage is proposed to be contracted.
(3) The affidavit may be sworn before the registrar, or before a District Magistrate.
(4) The registrar or the Magistrate taking the affidavit shall explain to the person making the affidavit what are the prohibited degrees of kindred and affinity, and the penalties which may be incurred under Chapter 6 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
Where the marriage does not take place within three months after the date of the notice, the notice and all proceedings consequent on the notice are void; and a fresh notice shall be given before the parties can lawfully marry under a registrar’s certificate.
(1) Where any persons desire to marry under the authority of a marriage officer’s certificate, each of those persons shall, four days at least before the time required for the first publication of the banns of marriage, deliver to a marriage officer for the district in which that person resides, a notice in the Form E set out in the Fifth Schedule.
(2) Where both persons have for fifteen days previously to giving the notice resided in the same town or village, and are members of the same religious denomination, a single notice in the Form F set out in the Fifth Schedule is sufficient, and banns of marriage need be published only in the place of worship of the religious denomination at that town or village, and one marriage officer’s certificate in the Form J set out in the Fifth Schedule is sufficient authority for the solemnisation of the marriage.
(1) On the receipt of the notice of intended marriage, the marriage officer
(a) shall, subject to subsection (3) of section 38, personally publish the banns of marriage between the parties named in the notice at the town or village where the person giving the notice resides, in the place of worship of the religious denomination to which that person belongs, or
(b) shall cause the banns to be there published by a person duly authorised for the purpose in writing by the marriage officer by endorsement on the notice in the Form G set out in the Fifth Schedule.
(2) Where separate notices of an intended marriage are required to be given the banns shall be published separately in respect of each of the notices.
(1) Publication shall be made in the face of the congregation in an audible manner both in English and the vernacular at the appropriate time during public divine service on a Sunday morning or a Sunday afternoon or evening as appropriate and shall be in the following form:
“I publish the banns of marriage between .............................................................. (name of intended husband) of .................................................... (state place of residence, as in notice) bachelor (or widower), and ................................ (name of intended wife) of .................................................... (state place of residence, as in notice) spinster.
If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in holy matrimony, you are to declare it.
This is for the first (second, or third) time of asking.
(2) The publication shall be made on three Sundays.
(3) Where the person authorised to publish the banns is not familiar with the vernacular that person may depute another person to publish the banns in the vernacular, and the banns shall be so published in the vernacular immediately after their publication in English.
The person publishing the banns shall endorse the dates of the publications on the notice, in the Form H set out in the Fifth Schedule and where that person is not the marriage officer, that person shall return the notice duly endorsed to the marriage officer.
A person desiring to forbid a marriage by banns shall do so in the manner provided by section 56.
The marriage officer on being satisfied of the due publication of the banns, and if a caveat has not been entered, or if the caveat has been entered but duly removed, shall at any time within three months of the date of the last publication of banns grant to the person by whom the notice of intended marriage has been given, if a separate notice, a marriage officer’s certificate in the Form 1 set out in the Fifth Schedule, or to one of the persons by whom a joint notice of intended marriage has been given, a certificate in the Form J set out in the Fifth Schedule.
Where the marriage is not solemnised within three months of the last publication of banns, the publication and all proceedings consequent on the publication are void, and before the parties can be married by banns, the banns shall be published anew in the manner and form provided, as if the banns had never been published between them.
(1) Where the Registrar is satisfied by an affidavit that a lawful impediment to the proposed marriage does not exist and that the necessary consent to the marriage has been obtained, the Registrar may dispense with the giving of notice, and with the issue of the certificate of the registrar, and may grant the licence, which shall be in the Form B set out in the Fifth Schedule, authorising the celebration of the marriage between the parties named in the licence by a registrar, or by a recognised Minister of a religious denomination or body.
(2) The marriage may be celebrated in a place other than a licensed place of worship or a registrar’s office if the Registrar so authorises.
(1) A person whose consent to a marriage is required, or who may know of a just cause why the marriage should not take place, may enter a caveat against the issue of a registrar’s or marriage officer’s certificate,
(a) where the marriage is to be solemnised under the authority of a registrar’s certificate, at any time before the issue of the certificate,
(i) by writing the word “Forbidden” opposite to the entry of the notice in the marriage notice book, and
(ii) by appending to the notice the name and place of abode of that person, and the grounds on or by reason of which that person claims to forbid the marriage;
(b) where the marriage is to be solemnised under the authority of marriage officers certificates, or one certificate, after publication of banns,
(i) by giving notice in writing to the person publishing the banns to forbid the marriage, and
(ii) by appending the name and place of abode of that person to the notice, and
(iii) by specifying in the notice the grounds on or by reason of which that person claims to forbid the marriage; and the person publishing the banns, if not the marriage officer, shall forward the notice without delay to the marriage officer, and shall, unless the notice of the intending marriage had been returned to the marriage officer, record on the notice of intended marriage the fact and date of the receipt of the notice forbidding the marriage.
(2) A registrar or marriage officer shall not issue the certificate until the caveat is removed.
(1) Where a caveat is entered against the issue of a registrar’s or marriage officer’s certificate, the registrar or marriage officer, shall without delay refer the matter to a Justice of the High Court.
(2) Where the Justice is satisfied that legal grounds do not exist for forbidding the issue of the certificate, the Justice shall remove the caveat in the prescribed manner without requiring any of the parties to appear.
(3) In any other cases the Justice shall summon the parties to the intended marriage and the person by whom the caveat was entered, and shall require the last-named person to show cause why the registrar or marriage officer should not in due course issue the certificate.
(4) The case shall be heard and determined in a summary manner, and the Justice may award compensation and costs to the party injured, if it appears that a caveat was entered on insufficient grounds.
(1) Where the Justice decides that the certificate ought to issue, the Justice shall remove the caveat,
(a) in the case of a registrar’s certificate, by cancelling the word “Forbidden” in the marriage notice book in ink, and writing in the marriage notice book immediately below that entry and cancellation, the words “Cancelled this .................... ........................................ day of , 20 , by order of the High Court at ..............,” and signing the book accordingly;
(b) in the case of a marriage officer’s certificate, by a declaration personally signed by the marriage officer that the intended marriage is proper and may be solemnised in due course, a certified copy of which declaration shall be forwarded by the registrar of the High Court to the marriage officer by whom the caveat was referred.
(2) On the removal of the caveat, the registrar or marriage officer may issue the certificate in due course, and the marriage may proceed as if the caveat had not been entered, but the time that has elapsed between the entering and the removal of the caveat shall not be computed in the period of three months specified in section 45, 46, 47 or 54.
Where either party to an intended marriage, who is not a widower or a widow, is under twenty-one years of age, the written consent
(a) of the father, or if the father is dead or is of unsound mind or is absent from the Republic, of the mother, or
(b) of the mother, or if the mother is dead or is of unsound mind or is absent from the Republic, of the guardian of that party, shall be produced annexed to the affidavit before a licence can be granted or a certificate issued.
(1) Where the person required to sign the consent is unable to write or is insufficiently acquainted with the English language or both, then that person shall sign the consent by placing a mark or a cross to the consent in the presence of
(a) a Justice of the High Court,
(b) a Magistrate,
(c) a registrar of marriages,
(d) a registrar of a superior court of record,
(e) a Government medical officer or medical officer of the Armed Forces, or
(f) a minister of religion.
(2) The signature shall be attested by that person and shall be in the following form or as near thereto as may be:
Signed by ...................... at .............. on the .............. day of .............................. , 20........ this paper, writing, or consent having been first read over (or read over and truly interpreted) to him (her) in the .......................................................................... language by ................................................................................ he (she) seemed to understand the same, and made his (her) mark thereto in my presence,
Before me,
A.B., Justice or Magistrate
Where a parent or guardian of a party is not residing in the Republic and capable of consenting to the marriage,
(a) a Justice of the High Court,
(b) the Attorney-General, or
(c) a Magistrate,
may consent to the marriage in writing on being satisfied after due enquiry that the marriage is a proper one, and the consent shall be as effectual as if the father or mother had consented.
(1) Marriages may be celebrated in a licensed place of worship by a recognised minister of the church, denomination or body to which the place of worship belongs, and according to the rites or usages of marriage observed in the church, denomination or body.
(2) The marriage shall be celebrated, with the doors open between the hours of eight o’clock in the forenoon and six o’clock in the afternoon, and in the presence of two or more witnesses besides the officiating minister and any other persons who may wish to attend the celebration.
A minister shall not celebrate a marriage knowing of a just impediment to the marriage, nor shall the minister celebrate a marriage until the parties deliver to the minister
(a) a registrar’s certificate, or
(b) two marriage officer’s certificates in the Form I in set out in the Fifth Schedule, one in respect of each party, or one marriage officer ’s certificate in the Form J set out in the Fifth Schedule, or
(c) the Registrar’s licence.
A minister shall not celebrate a marriage except in a building which has been duly licensed under section 40 or in a place directed by the Registrar’s licence.
(1) The Minister shall cause to be printed and delivered to the several registrars, and to the recognised ministers of licensed places of worship, books of marriage certificates in duplicate and with counterfoils in the Form C set out in the Fifth Schedule.
(2) The books shall be kept by the several registrars and the recognised ministers of the places of worship, under lock and key, and in the custody of the registrars and ministers respectively, who shall so soon as all the marriage certificates in the book have been used, send the book with the counterfoils duly filed in to the Registrar, who shall preserve the books in the office of the Registrar.
(1) Immediately after the celebration of a marriage by a minister, the officiating minister shall make entries in duplicate in the marriage certificate of
(a) the number of the certificate,
(b) the date of the marriage,
(c) the names of the parties, and whether any of them is of full age or a minor,
(d) the names of the parties,
(e) the condition, whether bachelor or widower, spinster or widow, of the parties,
(f) the occupation, rank, or profession of the parties,
(g) the residence at the time of marriage of the parties, and
(h) the father’s or mother’s names, if known, their occupation, if known.
(2) The minister shall make the first three entries and also enter the names of the witnesses in the counterfoil of the certificate.
(1) The certificates shall then be signed in duplicate by the officiating minister, by the parties, and by two or more witnesses to the marriage.
(2) The minister, having also signed the counterfoil, shall sever the duplicate certificate, deliver one certificate to the parties and shall, within seven days after the marriage, transmit the other to the registrar of marriages for the district in which the marriage takes place, who shall file the certificate in the office.
(1) After the issue of a certificate by a registrar under section 46 or section 58, the parties may contract a marriage before a registrar in the presence of two witnesses in the registrar’s office with the doors open, between the hours of eight o’clock in the forenoon and four o’clock in the afternoon on a week-day which is not a public holiday.
(2) The registrar shall directly or through an interpreter, address the parties thus:
“Do I understand you A.B. and C.D. that you come here for the purpose of becoming husband and wife?”
(3) On their answering in the affirmative the registrar shall proceed thus:
“Know ye that by the public taking of each other as husband and wife in my presence and in the presence of the persons now here, and by the subsequent attestation thereof by signing your names to that effect, you become legally married to each other, although no other rite of a civil or religious nature shall take place, and that this marriage cannot be dissolved during your lifetime, except by a valid judgment of divorce, and if either of you before the death of the other, shall contract another marriage while this remains undissolved, you will be thereby guilty of bigamy, and liable to the punishment inflicted for that offence.”
(4) Each of the parties shall then say to the other,
“I call upon all persons here present to witness that I, A. B., do take there, C.D., to be my lawful wife (or husband).”
The registrar shall then fill up, and the registrar and the parties and witnesses shall sign the certificate of the marriage in duplicate, and the registrar shall fill up and sign the counterfoil as prescribed in the case of a marriage by a minister, and shall deliver one certificate to the parties and shall file the other in the office.
Where the Registrar’s licence authorises the celebration of a marriage at a place other than a licensed place of worship, or the office of a registrar of marriages, the registrar of the district in which the marriage is intended to take place, on the production of the licence, shall deliver to the person producing the licence, a blank certificate of marriage in duplicate, and the minister or registrar celebrating the marriage shall fill up the certificate, and observe strictly all the prescribed formalities as to marriages in a licensed place of worship, or registrar’s office.
(1) The registrar of marriages in each district shall forthwith register in the marriage register book, every certificate of marriage which is filed in the office, according to the Form D set out in the Fifth Schedule.
(2) The entry shall be made in order of date from the beginning to the end of the book, and shall be dated on the day on which it is so entered, and shall be signed by the registrar.
(3) The book shall be indexed in a manner best suited for easy reference.
(4) The book shall be a record book, and the registrar shall during office hours allow searches to be made, and shall give certified copies from the book on payment of the fee mentioned in the Sixth Schedule.
(5) Within ten days after the last day of each month, every registrar shall send to the Registrar a certified copy of all the entries made during the preceding month in the marriage register book of the district, and the Registrar shall file the certified copy in the office of the Registrar.
(1) A clerical error in a certificate of marriage may be corrected by the registrar or minister performing a marriage, if discovered at the time of the making of the entry.
(2) A correction or alteration shall not be made in a certificate but a registrar, when authorised by the Minister responsible for the Interior, may correct a clerical error in a certificate of marriage filed in the registrar’s office, on production of the certificate delivered to the parties, and shall authenticate the correction by signature or by making the correction with initials and the date of correction.
A certificate of marriage which has been filed in the office of the registrar of a district, or a copy of that certificate purporting to be signed and certified as a true copy by the registrar of the district and an entry in a marriage register book or a certified copy of that entry and a copy of an extract of the records of the Registrar relating to a marriage and certified by the Registrar to be a true copy of the extract is admissible as evidence of the marriage to which it relates in a Court or before a person having by law or consent of the parties authority to hear, receive and examine evidence.
(1) A marriage may be lawfully celebrated under this Part between a man and the sister or niece of the deceased wife, but a marriage is not valid,
(a) which if celebrated in England, would be void on the ground of kindred or affinity, or
(b) where either of the parties, at the time of the celebration of the marriage, is married under the applicable customary law to a person other than the person with whom the marriage is celebrated.
(2) A marriage is void if both parties knowingly and wilfully acquiesce in its celebration in a place other than the office of a registrar of marriages, or a licensed place of worship, except where authorised by the Registrar’s licence, or under a false name or names, or without the registrar’s certificate of notice, or the marriage officer’s certificates, or one certificate when sufficient or licence duly issued, or by a person who is not a recognised minister of a religious denomination or body, or a registrar of marriages.
(3) A marriage shall not after its celebration be considered invalid because a provision of this Part other than this section has not been complied with.
A marriage celebrated under this Part is good and valid in law to all intents and purposes.
(1) A person who is married under this Part, or whose marriage before the commencement of this Part is declared by this Part to be valid, shall not during the continuance of that marriage contract a valid marriage under an applicable customary law.
(2) Unless otherwise provided, this Part does not affect the validity of a marriage contracted under or in accordance with an applicable customary law, or in any manner apply to marriages so contracted.
(1) A marriage celebrated before the commencement of this Part by a minister of a religious denomination or body, according to the rites in use by the religious denomination or body is a legal and valid marriage.
(2) Subsection (1) does not legalise
(a) a marriage which has before the commencement of this Part been declared invalid by a Court, nor
(b) a marriage, either party to which had at the time of its celebration a lawful wife or husband living, nor
(c) a marriage which was void by reason of kindred or affinity or fraud or incapacity to contract marriage, nor
(d) a marriage otherwise invalid, either party to which has before the commencement of this Part and in the lifetime of the other party had intermarried with another person.
Spent.
Spent.
(1) Where a person who is subject to the applicable customary law contracts a marriage, whether within the Republic or elsewhere in accordance with this Part or of any other enactment relating to marriage, or has contracted a marriage prior to the passing of this Part which marriage is validated hereby, and that person dies intestate on or after the 15th day of February, 1909, leaving a widow or husband or any issue of that marriage, and also where a person who is an issue of that marriage dies intestate on or after the said 15th day of February, 1909, the personal property of the intestate, and also the real property of which that intestate might have disposed by will, shall be distributed or descend in manner following:
(a) two-thirds in accordance with the provisions of the law of England relating to the distribution of the personal estates of intestates in force on the 19th day of November, 1884, despite the applicable customary law, and
(b) one-third in accordance with the provisions of the applicable customary laws which would have obtained if that person had not been married under this Part.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1),
(a) where by the law of England, a portion of the estate of the intestate would become a portion of the casual hereditary revenues of the Crown, that portion shall be distributed in accordance with the provisions of the applicable customary law, and shall not become a portion of the casual hereditary revenues; and
(b) the real property, the succession to which cannot by the applicable customary law be affected by testamentary disposition, shall descend in accordance with the provisions of the applicable customary law, despite any other provision in this section.
(3) Where a person dies in the circumstances mentioned in subsections (1) and (2), but on or after the 1st day of December, 1950, the property shall devolve on the administrator of the deceased person’s estate on trust to sell the property and to divide the proceeds of the sale in the manner provided in subsections (1) and (2).
(4) Before the registrar or a marriage officer issues the certificate in the case of an intended marriage, either party to which is a person subject to the applicable customary law, the registrar or officer shall explain to both parties the effect of these provisions as to the succession to property as affected by marriage.
(1) A child born before the intermarriage of the parents under this Part and not procreated in adultery shall on the intermarriage become the lawful issue of a marriage under this Part and is entitled to the same rights and privileges.
(2) The property of the child shall, in case of intestacy, be subject to the same incidents as though the parents had been at the date of the birth of the child married under this Part.
(3) The intercourse of a man married under the applicable customary law with an unmarried woman is, for the purposes of this Part, not adultery.
(4) This section applies to all children both of whose parents were living on the 15th day of February, 1909.
(1) The fees specified in the Sixth Schedule shall be paid to the registrars for the several matters to which they are applicable, and shall be paid by them into the Consolidated Fund.
(2) The Minister responsible for the Interior may, where satisfied of the poverty of the parties, reduce the amount of the fees, or remit them altogether; and if they have been paid into the Consolidated Fund, order their refund.
This Part does not preclude a minister from receiving the fees ordinarily paid to a minister of the minister’s denomination for the celebration of marriage.
The forms contained in the Fifth Schedule may be used in the cases to which they are applicable with the alterations that are necessary.
In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,
“Court” means a court of competent jurisdiction;
“district” means a marriage district constituted under section 35;
“Registrar” means the principal registrar of marriages;
“registrar” includes a deputy registrar of marriages.
First Schedule
FORM OF REGISTER OF CUSTOMARY MARRIAGES
[Section 2 (3)]
PART A—PARTICULARS OF HUSBAND
PART B—PARTICULARS OF WIFE
Second Schedule
NOTICE OF REGISTRATION OF CUSTOMARY MARRIAGE OR DISSOLUTION
OF CUSTOMARY MARRIAGE
[Sections 4 and 7 (4)]
Third Schedule
FORM OF REGISTER OF DIVORCE
[Section 6]
Fourth Schedule
FORMS
FORM A
LICENCE TO MOHAMMEDAN PRIEST
[Section 21]
FORM B
CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE
[Section 24 (2)]
FORM C
CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE
[Section 26 (2)]
FORM D
FEES
[Section 30]
Fifth Schedule
FORMS
FORM A
REGISTRAR’S CERTIFICATE
[Sections 46 and 84]
FORM B
SPECIAL LICENCE
[Section 55]
FORM C
BOOK OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES
[Sections 65 and 66]
FORM D
MARRIAGE REGISTER BOOK
[Section 71 (1)]
FORM E
NOTICE FOR BANNS
[Section 48 (1)]
FORM F
NOTICE FOR BANNS
[Section 48 (2)]
FORM G
AUTHORITY TO PUBLISH BANNS OF MARRIAGE
[Section 49 (1)]
FORM H
ENDORSEMENT OF PUBLICATION OF BANNS
[Section 51]
FORM I
MARRIAGE OFFICER’S CERTIFICATE
[Sections 53 and 63]
FORM J
MARRIAGE OFFICER’S CERTIFICATE
[Sections 48 (2), 53 and 63]
Sixth Schedule
FEES
[Section 71 (4)]