LAW REFORM (MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE) ACT 1976

LAWS OF MALAYSIA ONLINE VERSION OF UPDATED TEXT OF REPRINT Act 164 LAW REFORM (MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE) ACT 1976 As at 15 December 2018 This text is ONLY AN UPDATED TEXT of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 by the Attorney General’s Chambers. Unless and until reprinted pursuant to the powers of the Commissioner of Law Revision under subsection 14(1) of the Revision of Laws Act 1968 [Act 1], this text is NOT AN AUTHENTIC TEXT. 2 LAW REFORM (MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE) ACT 1976 Date of Royal Assent … … ... 6 March 1976 Date of publication in the Gazette … … ... 11 March 1976 English text authoritative … … ... P.U. (B) 127 of 1976 … … ... 15 December 2018 to be Latest amendment made by Act A1546 which came into operation on PREVIOUS REPRINTS First Reprint … … … … … 1981 Second Reprint … … … … … 1997 Third Reprint … … … … … 2006 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 164 LAW REFORM (MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE) ACT 1976 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Short title and commencement 2. Interpretation 3. Application 4. Subsisting valid marriages deemed to be registered under this Act and dissoluble only under this Act PART II MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGES 5. Disability to contract marriages otherwise than under this Act 6. Avoidance of marriage by subsisting prior marriage 7. Offence 8. Continuance of marriage PART III MARRIAGE Restrictions on marriage 9. Persons by whom marriages may be solemnized 4 Laws of Malaysia ACT 164 Section 10. Avoidance of marriages where either party is under minimum age for marriage 11. Prohibited relationships 12. Requirement of consent Preliminaries to marriage 13. Non-application of sections 14 to 20 inclusive to certain parties to a marriage 14. Notice of marriage 15. Publication of notice 16. Declaration to accompany notice 17. Issue of certificate for marriage 18. Marriage to take place within six months 19. Caveat 20. Proceedings if caveat entered 21. Licence Solemnization of marriages 22. Solemnization of marriages 23. Solemnization of a civil marriage performed in office of a Registrar or elsewhere 24. Solemnization of a marriage through religious ceremony, custom or usage 25. Entry in marriage register 26. Solemnization of marriages in Malaysian Embassies, etc., abroad PART IV REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGES 27. Registration 28. Appointment of Registrar General, Registrars and Assistant Registrars of Marriages 29. Books and Registers to be kept of all marriages in Malaysia 30. Copies of entries to be sent to Registrar General Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) 5 Section 31. Registration of foreign marriage by a person citizen of or domiciled in Malaysia 32. Unlawful registers 33. Voluntary registration of marriages previously solemnized under religion or custom 34. Legal effect of registration PART V PENALTIES AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SOLEMNIZATION AND REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGES 35. Omission to appear before Registrar within prescribed time 36. Contravention of section 32 37. Interference with marriage 38. False oath, etc., for procuring marriage 39. False allegation in caveat 40. Unauthorized solemnization of marriages 41. Offences relating to solemnization of marriages 42. Destroying or falsifying register book 43. Sanction for prosecution 44. Correction of errors 45. Inspection and search 46. Proof 46A. Damaged registers 46B. Missing register PART VI DIVORCE 47. Principles of law to be applied 48. Extent of power to grant relief 49. Additional jurisdiction in proceedings by a wife 50. Restriction on petitions within two years of marriage 6 Laws of Malaysia ACT 164 Section 51. Dissolution on ground of conversion to Islam 51A. Property of spouse after conversion 52. Dissolution by mutual consent 53. Breakdown of marriage to be sole ground for divorce 54. Proof of breakdown 55. Provisions designed to encourage reconciliation 56. Rules to provide for agreements to be referred to court 57. Contents of divorce petition 58. Damages for adultery may be claimed against co-respondent 59. Powers of court on claim to damages for adultery 60. Hearing of petition 61. Decree nisi and proceedings thereafter 62. Remarriage of divorced persons 63. Proceedings for decree nisi of presumption of death and divorce Judicial Separation 64. Judicial separation 65. Judicial separation no bar to petition for divorce 66. Property of wife after judicial separation Nullity of Marriage 67. Extent of power to grant relief 68. Petition for nullity of marriage 69. Grounds on which a marriage is void 70. Grounds on which a marriage is voidable 71. Bars to relief where marriage is voidable 72. Marriages governed by foreign law or celebrated abroad under Malaysian law 73. Effect of decree of nullity in case of voidable marriage 74. Collusion not to be bar to relief in cases of nullity 75. Legitimacy where nullity decree made Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) PART VII MATTERS INCIDENTAL TO MATRIMONIAL PROCEEDINGS Section 76. Power for court to order division of matrimonial assets Maintenance of spouse 77. Power for court to order maintenance of spouse 78. Assessment of maintenance 79. Power for court to order security for maintenance 80. Compounding of maintenance 81. Duration of orders for maintenance 82. Right to maintenance to cease on remarriage 83. Power for court to vary orders for maintenance 84. Power for court to vary agreements for maintenance 85. Maintenance payable under order of court to be inalienable 86. Recovery of arrears of maintenance PART VIII PROTECTION OF CHILDREN 87. Meaning of “child” 88. Power for court to make order for custody 89. Orders subject to conditions 90. Declaratory order as to unfitness of parent to have custody 91. Custody of children deemed legitimate 92. Duty to maintain children 93. Power for court to order maintenance for children 94. Power for court to order security for maintenance 95. Duration of orders for custody and maintenance 96. Power for court to vary orders for custody or maintenance 7 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 164 Section 97. Power for court to vary agreement for custody or maintenance 98. Recovery of arrears of maintenance 99. Duty to maintain child accepted as member of family 100. Court to have regard to advice of welfare officers, etc. 101. Power for court to restrain taking of child out of Malaysia Other reliefs 102. Power for court to set aside and prevent dispositions intended to defeat claims to maintenance 103. Injunction against molestation PART IX MISCELLANEOUS 104. Recognition of marriage contracted abroad 105. Recognition of marriages contracted in Embassies, etc., in Malaysia 106. Requirement of reference to conciliatory body before petition for divorce 107. Maintenance of register of divorces and annulments 108. Power to make rules 109. Repeal SCHEDULE 9 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 164 LAW REFORM (MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE) ACT 1976 An Act to provide for monogamous marriages and the solemnization and registration of such marriages; to amend and consolidate the law relating to divorce; and to provide for matters incidental thereto. *[Throughout Malaysia—1 March 1982, P.U. (B) 73/1982] BE IT ENACTED by the Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the advice and consent of the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: PART I PRELIMINARY Short title and commencement 1. This Act may be cited as the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 and shall come into force on such date as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may, by notification in the Gazette appoint and different dates may be appointed for **Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. Interpretation 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— *NOTE—This Act is made applicable to the Federal Territory of Labuan vide Modification Order No. P.U. (A) 195/1985. **NOTE—All references to “West Malaysia” shall be construed as reference to “Peninsular Malaysia”– see subsection 5(2) of the Interpretation (Amendment) Act 1997 [Act A996]. 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 164 “aborigine” has the same meaning assigned to it in section 3 of the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 [Act 134]; “appointed date” means the date of coming into operation of this Act; “Chief Minister”, in relation to— (a) the States of Malaysia, means the Chief Minister or Menteri Besar of a State; (b) the Federal Territory means the Minister; (c) the Malaysian Embassy, High Commission or Consulate, means the Malaysian Ambassador, High Commissioner or Consul respectively; “child of the marriage” means a child of both parties to the marriage in question or a child of one party to the marriage accepted as one of the family by the other party; and “child” in this context includes an illegitimate child of, and a child adopted by, either of the parties to the marriage in pursuance of an adoption order made under any written law relating to adoption; “court” means the High Court or a Judge thereof or, where a Sessions Court Judge has jurisdiction by virtue of subsection (2), the Sessions Court or a Sessions Court Judge of that Court; “marriage district” means an area which has been defined as a marriage district under subsection 28(5), or if no such area has been so defined in any State or Federal Territory, that State or Federal Territory; “marriage register” includes— (a) any register of marriages kept under any written law relating to registration of marriages prior to the appointed date; (b) marriage registers constituted under subsection 46A(1) and section 46B; and Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) 11 (c) microfilms, computers and other forms of records made under subsection 46A(2); “marriage with another woman” means marriage of any person, being married to any other woman during the life of the former wife, whether the second marriage has taken place within Malaysia or elsewhere; “Minister” means the Minister charged with responsibility for the registration of marriages; “minor” means a person who is under the age of twenty-one years and who is not a widow or widower; “native”, in relation to Sabah and Sarawak, has the same meaning assigned to it in Clause (6) of Article 161A of the Federal Constitution; “Registrar” means a Registrar of Marriages appointed under this Act and includes the Registrar General, an Assistant Registrar General, a Superintendent Registrar, a Deputy Registrar and an Assistant Registrar of Marriages; “Registrar General” means the Registrar General of Marriages and includes a Deputy Registrar General of Marriages appointed under this Act. (2) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may, on the advice of the Chief Judge, by notification in the Gazette, confer upon any Sessions Court Judge jurisdiction to deal with any matter under this Act. Application 3. (1) Except as is otherwise expressly provided this Act shall apply to all persons in Malaysia and to all persons domiciled in Malaysia but are resident outside Malaysia. (2) For the purposes of this Act, a person who is a citizen of Malaysia shall be deemed, until the contrary is proved, to be domiciled in Malaysia. 12 Laws of Malaysia ACT 164 (3) This Act shall not apply to a Muslim or to any person who is married under Islamic law and no marriage of one of the parties which professes the religion of Islam shall be solemnized or registered under this Act; but nothing herein shall be construed to prevent a court from having exclusive jurisdiction over the dissolution of a marriage and all matters incidental thereto including granting a decree of divorce or other orders under Part VII and Part VIII on a petition for divorce under section 53 where one party converts to Islam after the filing of the petition or after the pronouncement of a decree, or a petition for divorce under either section 51, 52 or 53