Bigamy in Jamaica

Dear Mrs Macaulay,

I recently came across your article, ‘Bigamist hubby conned two wives’, dated February 14, 2024 and had to share my unfortunate similar experience. My husband of 19 years and I were married in Runaway Bay. He was living a secret double life until his second wife came to my house in December 2023 and shared pictures with me of their wedding in Ocho Rios which occurred in 2021 with guests in attendance. She and I had an amicable conversation as we were both in shock, and I called the police on him.

I have since filed a criminal complaint for bigamy with the New York district attorney, and after review of the evidence provided, I was told to contact the Jamaican authorities as they would have jurisdiction because both marriages were registered and occurred in Jamaica.

Based on the Matrimonial Causes Act and section 4 referenced in the article, would our marriage be null and void? Also, what is the process for pursuing a bigamy case in Jamaica?

I am seeking justice to the fullest extent of the law.

I am sorry to learn of your shock and unfortunate discovery that your husband of 19 years committed bigamy. This would have also been very shocking and unfortunate for the other woman. The advice of the district attorney that you should contact the authorities in Jamaica to pursue the matter is correct, and you would be in a better position to succeed with a prosecution of him here in Jamaica as well. Even proof of the veracity of the two certified marriage certificates produced in Jamaican legal proceedings would not need special evidence to achieve, whereas in the United States, a foreign country, expert evidence would need to be called in legal proceedings there to prove that such certificates meet the laws and were true and proper copies of Jamaican marriage certificates. So Jamaican courts definitely have the appropriate legal jurisdiction to deal with yours and the other lady’s complaint.

Since you have read my earlier column on bigamy, I am not going to go over the laws which I dealt with there. I shall now just answer you questions.

Your first question is, whether pursuant to section 4 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, your marriages are void? The answer is that his bigamous act does not affect the legality of your own marriage (it must certainly have shattered it) but his second ‘marriage’ which occurred in 2012 in Ocho Rios is the one which is void and can be terminated by an application for a decree of nullity. You can, as you have made clear that your marriage is over, file a petition for the dissolution of your marriage on the ground that your marriage has irretrievably broken down because of his proven and continuous infidelity, proven by his bigamous conduct. These two proceedings in the Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica would bring to an end the marital relations with you and the other lady.

You also make clear that you want “justice” to the full extent of the law, which I understand to mean that you and the other lady wish to pursue criminal action against him.

Well, it is a criminal offence which appears in section 71 of the Offences Against The Person Act and is there stated to be a “felony”. On conviction, the person is liable to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment. So like all criminal offences, you should make your complaints/reports to the police of the parish where he is from, and the trial can commence in its circuit court. Or, you can make your complaints/reports to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the person who is responsible for criminal prosecutions in Jamaica. She can decide to lay an indictment or direct the police to investigate the matter and send the results to her, whereby she can decide whether the evidence is sufficient for her office to proceed with a criminal prosecution.

I hope that I have answered you with sufficient clarity for you to pursue both your civil proceedings (divorce decree and nullity decree) and criminal prosecutions for the felonious offences of bigamy.

I wish you both the very best, and all success.

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. All responses are published. Mrs Macaulay cannot provide personal responses.