INFO YOU CAN USE: Can your marriage be annulled?
DECREES of nullity of marriage — or an annulment — may be pronounced by the court on the ground that a marriage is void on any of the following grounds:-
(a) one of the parties to the marriage had a husband or wife living at the time of the marriage;
(b) the marriage was void under the provisions of the Marriage Act or any other laws relating to marriage in force for the time being in Jamaica. A marriage shall be void when both parties knowingly and wilfully agree with the solemnisation of their marriage ceremony:
(i) by or before a person who is not a marriage officer; or
(ii) without two witnesses being present throughout, besides the marriage officer, solemnising or witnessing and registering the marriage; or
(iii) when both or one of the parties marrying is under the age of 16; or
(iv) if the parties are within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity (blood relation) or affinity according to the law of England.
(c) in the case of marriages celebrated on or after the first day of February, 1989, the consent of either of the parties to the marriage was not a valid consent because:-
(i) it was obtained by duress or fraud; or
(ii) one party was mistaken as to the identity of the other party or as to the nature of the ceremony performed; or
(iii) one party was mentally incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony at the time of the marriage.
(d) the parties to the marriage were, at the time of the marriage, of the same sex.
