The Marriage Amendment Act 115 (I) of 2019 has been amended in relation to interpretation articles by adding the following terms:
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“Competent authorities of the Republic” means the Marriage Registrar or any official of the Ministry of the Interior whom the Marriage Registrar has sought to authorize for the purposes of Article 8
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“transducer” means a transducer, final and absolute, issued following a final court decision;
Moreover the law has also amended article 8 which relates to the declarations of freedom and of no impediments as follows:
8. (1) Before determining the date and place of marriage in the certificate issued in accordance with subparagraph (1) of Article 6, the Marriage Officer shall require persons who intend to marry to appear before him, or before another person. which the Officer wanted to authorize, and to make official confirmation and confirm in writing:
(a) that they are unaware of the existence of any obstacle or legal obstacle to marriage,
(b) that any necessary consent required for marriage has been obtained, or that no such consent is required; and
(c) that each has not entered into any marriage or political cohabitation with another person and is free to enter into a marriage .
(2) The Officer in respect of whom the declarations referred to in subsection (1) are made shall , in addition, require the production of certificates or certificates to verify the content of the declarations and personal data of the persons intending to marry:
Provided that the declaration provided for in paragraph (c) of subparagraph (1) requires the presentation of an official certificate or attestation issued by the competent authorities of the Republic or the competent authorities of the country of origin of the persons concerned within a period of time for a period not exceeding three (3) months before the filing of the declaration:
It is further understood that, should the Marriage Officer have any doubt as to the accuracy or authenticity of the certificate or certificate, he may refuse to perform the marriage.
(2A) Where the persons concerned are unable to produce the certificates or attestations provided for in subsection (2), the Marriage Officer shall, taking into account the objective and convincing evidence presented to him, require such persons to make an oath. Registrar of the District Court concerned declaring that each has not entered into a marriage with another person, or requesting the official authorities of the Republic to issue such certificates or certificates:
Provided that, in the event of a previous marriage or civil cohabitation, each person concerned must present his / her dissolution of his / her former marriage for the purposes of certifying the divorce or the documents certifying the dissolution of the civil cohabitation under the provisions of the Civil Partnership , it depends on the situation:
It is further provided that, where the former spouse of the person concerned has died, the person concerned must present a certificate of death of his former spouse for the purposes of widowhood certification.
(3) The Marriage Officer shall not issue a Certificate of Notice unless the conditions for marriage set forth in this Law are fulfilled.
