MARRIAGE
Law n° 64-375 of 7 October 1964 modified by Low n° 83-800 of 2 August 1983.
CHAPTER ONE
CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO ENTER INTO A
MARRIAGE CONTRACT
Paragraph One: Conditions to be fulfilled by spouses
Article 1 – new (Law 83-800 of 2-8-1983) - A man below twenty years old, a woman below eighteen
years old, may not contract marriage. However, the Public Prosecutor may grant exemptions for
serious reasons.
Art.2.- No one can contract a new marriage before the dissolution of the previous marriage. In the
event that the marriage is dissolved by divorce or annulment, a new union cannot be entered into
before the fulfillment of the formalities provided for in Article 14 of the Divorce and Reparation Law.
Art.3.- Each of the spouses-to-be must personally consent to the marriage. Consent is not valid if it
has been obtained using violence or if it has only been given as a result of an error in the physical or
civil identity of the person.
Art. 4.- Only an adult male man and woman consent to their marriage.
Paragraph 2.- Consent to marriage by minors
Art.5.- A minor under the age of twenty-one cannot enter into marriage without the consent of his
father and mother who exercise paternal rights and powers over him/her.
Art.6.- The consent of the father and mother may be given orally, during the marriage ceremony, or be
prepared beforehand, by a civil status registrar or a notary, who draws up a deed and notifies, through
administrative channels, the competent civil status registrar to proceed with the celebration.
Art.7.- The circumstance that the consent of the father or mother is valid results sufficiently from the
declaration that he/she makes to the registrar or the notary public who receives the consent.
Art.8. - If the father and mother are dead, unknown or unable to express their will, if they have no
known residence or if they are both denied paternal rights and power, the authorization is given by the
guardian.
In the absence of a guardian, authorization can be requested from the President of the Court or of the
section of the Court where the minor habitually resides.
If the guardian refuses to give consent, the minor can submit a request for authorization to the
Magistrate, as per the preceding paragraph.
The Magistrate rules, in any case, through a non-motivated order after investigations, and the Public
Prosecutor is heard when represented before the jurisdiction concerned.
If the request is based on the refusal of the guardian to grant consent, a ruling can only be passed if the
guardian has been heard, or invited to appear for hearing in accordance with the procedures applicable
in summary proceedings.
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