LAWS OF MALAYSIA REPRINT Act 164 LAW REFORM (MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE) ACT 1976 Incorporating all amendments up to 1 January 2006 PUBLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAW REVISION, MALAYSIA UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE REVISION OF LAWS ACT 1968 IN COLLABORATION WITH PERCETAKAN NASIONAL MALAYSIA BHD 2006 Laws of Malaysia 2 ACT 164 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 to be authoritative ... ... P.U. (B) 127 of 1976 PREVIOUS REPRINTS First Reprint ... ... ... ... ... 1981 Second Reprint ... ... ... ... ... 1997 Third Reprint ... ... ... ... ... 2001 Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) 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 10. Avoidance of marriages where either party is under minimum age for marriage 11. Prohibited relationships 12. Requirement of consent Laws of Malaysia 4 ACT 164 Preliminaries to marriage Section 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 Solemnization of marriages in Malaysian Embassies, etc., abroad 26. 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 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 Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) 5 PART V PENALTIES AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SOLEMNIZATION AND REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGES Section 35. Omission to appear before Registrar within prescribed time 36. Contravention of section 32 37. Interference with marriage False oath, etc., for procuring marriage 38. 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 51. Dissolution on ground of conversion to Islam 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 Laws of Malaysia 6 ACT 164 Section 60. Hearing of petition Decree nisi and proceedings thereafter 61. 62. Remarriage of divorced persons Proceedings for decree nisi of presumption of death and divorce 63. 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 PART VII MATTERS INCIDENTAL TO MATRIMONIAL PROCEEDINGS 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 Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) 7 Section 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 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 Court to have regard to advice of welfare officers, etc. 100. 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 Recognition of marriages contracted in Embassies, etc., in Malaysia 105. 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 Laws of Malaysia 8 ACT 164 Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) 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-- "aborigine" has the same meaning assigned to it in section 3 of the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 [Act 134]; *NOTE--This Act is made applicable to the Federal Territory of Labuan vide Modification Order No. P.U. (A) 195/1985. Laws of Malaysia 10 ACT 164 "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 sec