7          Revocation of designation as marriage officer, (1) The Minister may, on the ground of misconduct or for any other good cause, and where possible after consultation with the authority governing the religious, denomination or organization concerned, revoke in writing the designation of any, (2) Where a minister of religion severs his connection with any religious denomination or organization in respect of which he was appointed a marriage, officer, he shall forthwith cease to be a marriage officer. 22. The first type is the easiest to achieve since both parties wish to terminate the marriage and have agreed to the broad terms of the separation. 15. The Leading Family Newspaper in Zimbabwe. Provided that no such application shall be made against the wishes of the minor if, since the date of the marriage, he has attained the age of eighteen years. Marriage Act - Zimbabwe 11 Years Ago admin Laws and acts governing the system. requirement the consent of a judge is necessary and has been granted. Unauthorized solemnization of marriage ceremonies forbidden. Acts 42 of 1969, 3rd Sch., 1 of 1979, 1st Sch., 7 of 2011 Sch. (a)        the person who makes publication of the relevant banns of marriage or notice of intention to marry: Provided that, in the case of banns published in terms of paragraph, (a) of subsection (2) of section eleven, any person desiring to raise any objection may do so orally, and such objector shall, if so required by the person making the publication, confirm such objection in writing; or, (b)        the magistrate who issues a marriage licence in respect of such, (c)        the marriage officer who is to solemnize such marriage. stream Law 48 of 1957. Interpretation. [amended by Act 22 of 2001, with effect from the 10th September, 2002. In terms of the Customary Marriages Act Chapter 5:07 (it used to be known as Chapter 238), a man may marry more than one wife legally. (ii)        if any legal guardian refuses his consent, a judge of the High Court may grant consent to the marriage, and the consent of the judge so given shall have the same effect as if it had been given by the legal guardian whose consent is refused. Registration Book, such particulars as may be prescribed of every duplicate original register filed by him. %���� It also means … 18. �*I�MHD7�Y�'>h'�\�u�}Rr߮����OӨ��� �G��jr=�9�� ��G�#v)>��cM (1) Any minister of religion or any person authorized by the authority governing the religious denomination or organization concerned may publish banns of marriage. Designation of ministers of religion and other persons as marriage officers. The court heard that Maridza and Mr Chivandire wedded under Chapter 5.11 of the Marriage Act which prohibits a man or a woman from marrying more than one spouse. Many countries especially those in the developed world for example Germany, United Kingdom, Holland, Greece, Canada and most States in the United States, also have marriages out of community of property. <> 4. 5          Certain persons may in certain circumstances be deemed to have been marriage officers, (1) Whenever any person has acted as a marriage officer during any period in respect of which he was not a marriage officer under this Act or a prior law, and the Minister, is satisfied that such person did so in the bona fide belief that he was a marriage. PART IV, For the purpose of performing the functions assigned to him by this Act, there shall be a Registrar of Marriages whose office shall be a public office and shall form part, (1) Immediately after the solemnization of a marriage, the marriage officer shall make an entry thereof in the marriage register book to be kept for that purpose and shall. Attachments. Incidence. Before Sections 78(1) and 81(1) of the Constitution came into effect, Section 22(1) of the Marriage Act (Chapter 5:11) provided that a … This is a monogamous marriage and is registered in accordance with the laws of the land. Bulawayo's most popular daily newspaper. 12. (2) Section seventeen shall apply, mutatis mutandis, with reference to any banns or notice referred to in subsection (1). Marriage Act used in Zimbabwe, last updated in 2004. [�%.ك�~Q������j�h��� X��#��Ln�; ��f8D�/�f2(I`�(���#��f��I������;"�vT�An�7~я�@�=�͐�m�N��74�G�u�}�i (1) Parties desiring to marry without the publication of banns or notice of intention to marry may personally apply to a magistrate for a licence to marry without the publication of banns or notice to marry. A person cannot be married under both the general law and customary at the same time. PART III. Moreover, most of these customary marriages are unregistered. (6) If the magistrate is not satisfied in terms of subsection (5), he shall refuse to issue a marriage licence. Customary Marriages Act, Chapter 5:07: Official authorities in charge of registering a marriage: Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Registrar General Office: Organizational structure : Centralized: Legal age for marriage: 18 years for males and females: Is there a legal obligation to register marriages? CCZ 39/. (2) Upon payment of the prescribed fee, the Registrar shall—, (a)        on application made in writing, cause a search to be made in the. All marriages in Zimbabwe are out of community of property, unless the parties enter into an antenuptial contract prior to the marriage. (2) A marriage officer, other than a magistrate, may receive such remuneration ordinarily paid to a minister of religion in terms of the rules and regulations of his … ���J4f���M߈&��. “I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, A.B., do take C.D. 1 Short title This Act may be cited as the Married Persons Property Act [Chapter 5:12]. of such banns or such notice, as the case may be, was duly made according to the law of such country. The law in Zimbabwe has an interest in polygamy (note that the correct term of a man having more than one wife is polygyny but for purposes of this article I will use the word polygamy) under both civil and criminal law. If a person is a single African and his or her parents are married under the Marriage Act [Chapter 5:11], that person’s estate should be … No other marriage can be contracted by a person during the subsistence of a monogamous marriage. 4          Designation of ministers of religion and other persons as marriage officers, (1) The Minister may, at the request of the authority governing any religious denomination or organization, designate any person holding a responsible position in any such religious denomination or organization to be a marriage officer for the, purpose of solemnizing marriages according to Christian, Jewish, Islamic or Hindoo. “magistrate” means any magistrate appointed in terms of the Magistrates Court Act. Final Papers of the 2016 National Symposium on the Promise of the Declaration of Rights under the Constitution of Zimbabwe: MAGISTRATES’ HANDBOOK FOR CRIMINAL CASES. Case note on the case of S v Ranchi HH 515-17, The Zimbabwe Electronic Law Journal Now a Refereed Journal and the Editors invite you to contribute articles for future volumes. (3) If such marriage officer or magistrate is not satisfied in terms of subsection (2), he shall refuse to issue the relevant certificate or solemnize the marriage, as the case may. (2) If any person referred to in subsection (1) who was not capable of contracting a valid marriage without the written permission of the Minister in terms of this Act, contracted a marriage without such permission and the Minister considers such, marriage to be desirable and in the interests of the parties concerned, he may, if such marriage was in every other respect solemnized in accordance with this Act and there. Marriage Amendment Act 11 of 1964 – Gazette No. Short title. The customary marriage will not be valid for purposes of the Act 12 . (2) A party to a proposed marriage within Zimbabwe may, if the law of the country in which he is ordinarily resident does not require the publication of banns of marriage, or of notice of intention to marry, lodge with the marriage officer concerned a certificate issued by an appropriate authority in that country to the effect that there is, no impediment to the proposed marriage, and such certificate shall be accepted by the. 21        Marriage of minors without consent voidable but not void, (1) Where a marriage of a minor which requires the consent of his legal guardian or legal guardians or the consent of a judge under section twenty is contracted without, such consent, the marriage shall not by reason of that fact be void, but may be set, aside and declared to be void by the High Court in its discretion if his legal guardian or legal guardians, whose consent was required but not obtained, makes application, therefor within a period of six weeks, calculated from the date on which he or they first had notice of such marriage, or within such further period as the court may. (2) Every such marriage register book and the duplicate originals thereof shall be in the form prescribed and every entry therein shall include all the particulars required, (3) Every such entry shall be signed by the marriage officer and by the parties, married and shall be attested by at least two witnesses of or above the age of eighteen years and each of the duplicate original registers of such entry shall be signed and, (4) One duplicate original register of the entry shall be delivered to the parties and the other shall, as soon as possible but not later than thirty days after the date of the, marriage, be transmitted to the Registrar, together with any declaration, proof of consent, certificate or other document required by this Act or any other law to be. 34. 9. 23        Proof of age of parties to proposed marriage, If parties appear before a marriage officer for the purpose of contracting a marriage with each other and such marriage officer suspects that either of them is of an age, which debars him or her from contracting a valid marriage, he shall refuse to solemnize a marriage between them unless he is furnished, to his satisfaction, with. Time and place for, and presence of parties and witnesses at, solemnization of marriage. 5. (1) Any party who desires the publication of a notice of intention to marry shall apply in the manner prescribed to a magistrate to publish such notice. This Act may be cited as the Marriage Act. Application for publication and acceptance of banns. Formerly Chapter 238, this type of marriage now exists under the Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5: 07]. 11. (1) A marriage may be solemnized at any time. 734, No. 10. Marriage of minors without consent voidable but not void. officer during that period, he may direct in writing that such person shall for all purposes be deemed to have been a marriage officer during such period under this Act or a prior law, as the case may be. But this does not relate same where the marriage under the Marriage Act precedes a customary marriage. Defamation: protecting reputation or suppressing media freedom? 1. Marriage, Divorce, Estate, Community of Property, Marriage Officer, License, Banns, Midlands State University Law Review Journal, University of Zimbabwe Student Law Review Journal, Case note on Zimbabwe Law Officers Association & Anor v National Prosecuting Authorities & Ors CCZ -1-19, Guilt by association: the over-extension of the doctrine of common purpose, Devolution demystified: Emerging debates and prospects for devolution in Zimbabwe A discussion paper, The State is not above the law: Enforcing a judgment against the State when it fails to comply with a judgement, The Role of the Criminal Law in the Protection of Women Against Gender-Based Violence: Case note on S v Jeri HH-516-17, Accessing information held by the State and State institutions Case note on Hitschmann v City of Mutare & Anor HH-211-16. ], 9          Publication of banns or notice of intention to marry or issue of marriage licence before marriage, (1) Subject to subsection (2), no marriage officer shall solemnize any marriage unless, in respect thereof and in terms of this Act or a prior law—, (a)        each of the parties has caused banns of marriage to be published; or, (b)        each of the parties has caused a notice of intention to marry to be published; or, (c)        one of the parties has caused banns of marriage to be published and, other has caused a notice of intention to marry to be published; or. 78 and 79); RGN 27/1963, SI 816/1981. According to court papers gleaned by Zim Morning Post, the pair married in Bindura on February 25 2005 under the Marriage Act (Chapter 5:11). [Date of commencement: 1st March, 1965.] preceding the date of the receipt of such application. Clause 5 states that a civil marriage is contracted in terms of the general law of Zimbabwe and is monogamous. A widow or widower intending to get married in terms of the Customary Marriages Act (Chapter 5:07) i.e. PART III, 8          Unauthorized solemnization of marriage ceremonies forbidden. Change of name of religious denomination or organization and amalgamation of religious denominations or organizations. 27. (1) Banns of marriage or a notice of intention to marry, as the case may be, published in a country outside Zimbabwe shall, for the purposes of this Act, be regarded as having been published in Zimbabwe, but a marriage officer shall not solemnize any marriage in pursuance thereof unless there is produced to him proof that publication 32), 20/1968, 42/1971 (s. 5), 37/1972. 7. Case note on S v Semba HH-299-17, A ray of hope for the outlawing of corporal punishment in Zimbabwe: A review of recent developments, Doctors who cause the patient deaths Case note on S v McGown 1995 (1) ZLR 4 (H), Judicial appointment in Zimbabwe: defining the concept of “fit and proper person” research paper submitted to the Faculty of Law of the Midlands State University, Reporting a court case arising from false social media report Casenote on Mushunje v Zimbabwe Newspapers, Should provocation be a partial defence to intentional killing of an adulterous spouse? In solemnizing any marriage the marriage officer, if he is a minister of religion, may follow the rites usually observed by his religious denomination or organization, but if, he is any other marriage officer he shall cause each of the parties in some part of the proceedings to make the following declaration—, “I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why, I, A.B., may not be joined in matrimony to C.D., here present.”, and each of the parties shall say to the other—. (1) Banns of marriage or a notice of intention to marry, as the case may be, published in a country outside Zimbabwe shall, for the purposes of this Act, be regarded as having been published in Zimbabwe, but a marriage officer shall not solemnize any marriage in pursuance thereof unless there is produced to him proof that publication of such banns or such notice, as the case may … (5) Every marriage officer shall at all reasonable times, upon payment of the prescribed fee, if any, allow searches to be made in the marriage register books in his, 32        Registration of marriages by Registrar, (1) The Registrar shall file in his office all duplicate original registers and other documents transmitted to him in terms of this Act and shall forthwith register, in a, book to be kept in his office for that purpose and to be called the Marriage. However, the new Act refers to civil marriage in chapter 5 clause 11. This came at a meeting organised by a civic society group to unpack the proposed amendments to the Marriages Act section 40 in Bulawayo. In this Act- "Registrar-General", "Civil Registrar", "Marriage Officer" mean respectively Registrar-General of Marriages, Civil Registrar of Marriages and Marriage Officer under this Act; Cap. 15        Certificate of publication of notice of intention to marry, (1) Subject to section nineteen, any magistrate who has in terms of section fourteen published a notice of intention to marry shall, on the application of either of the, persons desiring to marry and on payment to him of the prescribed fee, if any, issue to. Publication outside Zimbabwe of banns or notice of intention to marry. -, 2. (i)         such permission shall not relieve the parties to the proposed marriage from the obligation to comply with all other requirements of this Act; (ii)        such permission shall not be necessary if by reason of any such other. *"2��L� ���vZ�\��e�֊�ӂ�Z�e'��9|��G�no�-���W�v���-�&YF f�C\)1���`��z߹���܂��'��/�V+`�d�|�a.?��! Legal aid is available for a court application relating to divorce or nullity of marriage. & Others (Const. [amended by Act 22 of 2001, with effect from the 10th September, 2002. A marriage contracted in terms of the Marriage Act [Chapter 5:11] (once known as the Chapter 37 marriage). (2) An application referred to in subsection (1) shall—, (a)        state the full names, age, condition and residential address of each of the parties; and, (b)        bear the signature of each of the parties and be dated by either of. �}iM�(q�(-&�w`�+o���؟�V0���5� 8C�����:z�����]�O=��o2�?��@�DBO��dpE �Ha�� ��w�LL�� ,�M0��h �C�,�� CHAPTER 5:11 MARRIAGE ACT SIMPLIFIED ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Since its inception this Journal has had an Editorial Board consisting of editors from the Faculty of Law at the University of, Using religion to sexually exploit young female parishioners Case note on the Gumbura rape cases - By Geoff Feltoe, When Culture Clashes with the Criminal Law Case note on S v Hamunakwadi 2015 (1) ZLR 392 (H); S v Musino HH-158-17 and S v Taurayi HH-298-90 By Geoff Feltoe, Aligning the Administrative Justice Act with the Constitution, Final Papers of the 2016 National Symposium on the Promise of the Declaration of Rights under the Constitution of Zimbabwe, SELECTED ASPECTS OF THE 2013 ZIMBABWEAN CONSTITUTION AND THE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, African Customary Law, Customs, and Women's Rights - Muna Ndulo, A GUIDE TO ADMINISTRATIVE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW IN ZIMBABWE, Commentary on the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23]. 237. 24        Legality of marriages between persons within certain degrees of affinity, “spouse” means a former spouse, whether living or dead. 1 0 obj marriage officer in lieu of a certificate or notice of intention to marry if the marriage officer is satisfied that publication of such banns or notice of intention is not required by the laws of that country. 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