Is this marriage legal?

Dear Mrs Macaulay,

I was married in Jamaica in 2004 and was just informed that there is a 24-hour residency requirement. We came there as cruise ship passengers and weren’t even there four hours before getting married. If I am correct, due to the marriage laws in Jamaica, this marriage is void. How do I show that the marriage is legally void, as I appear to have a valid marriage certificate?

Our Marriage Act sets out the law relating to all forms of licences which authorise the solemnisation of marriages in Jamaica.

These are (1) a civil registrar’s certificate; (2) a marriage officer’s certificate; (3) a licence from the minister; (4) a licence from a justice, clerk of a resident magistrate’s court, or of a person appointed for the purpose by the minister.

You have not stated in your letter what kind of licence you obtained before you got married about four hours after your ship arrived in Jamaica for its short stop here.

The first, a civil registrar’s certificate, requires persons intending to marry and who have resided for 15 days in a parish, to give notice of their intention to the civil registrar of the parish. If one of the parties is not residing in Jamaica, then the one so residing can give the required notice. The contents of the notice when satisfactory must then be entered in the Marriage Notice Book, which must be open at all reasonable times to anyone who wishes to inspect it. After the expiration of seven clear days after the receipt of the notice of the intended marriage, and as long as objection to the marriage was made, a certificate of the due publication, the civil registrar’s certificate, may be issued authorising the solemnisation of the marriage.

The marriage officer’s certificate or Certificate of Banns requires the publication of Banns following the receipt of the notice from the parties or party of their intention to marry at morning or evening service. After this, the contents of the notice must be entered on paper which must be attached outside the principal door of the place of worship for seven days. Again, at the expiration of the seven days and there being no objection, the marriage officer’s certificate is then issued by the priest, minister or pastor, who must be a marriage officer, authorising the solemnisation of the marriage.

The minister’s licence may be issued after application is made to the relevant minister of government from persons intending to marry and who reside in Jamaica, and upon the minister being satisfied that there is no legally recognised impediment to the marriage, a minister licence may be issued.

A special licence may also be issued when both parties have, or one of them has, resided in the island for 15 clear days, by any one of the officials I have listed in number four above. They should have received the application for the licence in the form of a notice of the marriage and a declaration signed by the parties applying for it; plus a statutory declaration from a minister of religion (who is a marriage officer) stating that the applicants are well known to him/her and that the contents of their notice are true to the best of his/her knowledge and belief.

As you can see, there is no provision which provides for only 24 hours residence for a licence to marry in Jamaica — certainly not in our Marriage Act in Jamaica. I suspect the procurement of a special licence was arranged for you by someone who does this for tourists.

You have asked how you can show that your marriage is void because you were only in Jamaica for about four hours before you got married and yet you seem to have a valid marriage certificate.

Our Marriage Act provides that marriages shall be void when both parties knowingly and wilfully agree with the solemnisation of their marriage ceremony:

* By or before a person who is not a marriage officer; or

* Without two witnesses being present throughout, besides the marriage officer, solemnising or witnessing and registering the marriage; or

* When both or one of the parties marrying is under the age of 16; or

* If the parties are within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity according to the law of England which is in force from time to time.

The Matrimonial Causes Act provides that the court may pronounce a decree of nullity on the ground that the marriage is void, when:

* The marriage is void pursuant to the Marriage Act or other law relating to marriage in force in Jamaica;

* One of the parties had a husband or wife living at the time of the marriage;

* For marriages celebrated after February 1, 1989, when the consent of either of the parties to the marriage was not a valid one, because it was obtained by duress or fraud, or a mistake as to the identity of the other party or as to the nature of the ceremony performed;

* One party was mentally incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony, at the time of the marriage;

* When the parties to the marriage were of the same sex at the time of the marriage.

The Act also provides that nothing can make a void marriage valid even when a decree of nullity has not been granted.

You will note that the circumstance of your marriage of too short a time in Jamaica is not one of those provided in either the Marriage Act or the Matrimonial Causes Act as resulting in a void marriage.

In fact, the Marriage Act specifically provides that except for the four circumstances which I have listed above of void marriages pursuant to that Act, that no marriage otherwise lawful which has actually been solemnised shall be declared void on the ground that any of the conditions directed to be observed by the Act have not been duly observed.

In other words, though the conditions for your marriage licence to be issued according to the Act were not duly observed, once your marriage was otherwise legally conducted, it is not void and it cannot be declared void. Therefore, if either of you wish to terminate it, you will have to obtain a divorce and not a decree of nullity on the ground that it is void, because it is not.

I trust this clarifies the situation for you.

Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver. com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5.

DISCLAIMER:

The contents of this article are for informational purposes only and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.