Amendments to the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act

Sri Lanka government to amend the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act.

Sri Lanka government is planning to draft a bill to amend the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act and concurrently to that, the Cabinet approved the proposal to repeal the relevant inconsistencies in the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act and to advice the legal draftsman to prepare a bill for the same.

Section 22 of the Marriage Registration Ordinance was amended by the Marriage Registration Act No. 12 of 1997 (Amended), stipulating that the consent of the parents is required for the marriage of a minor. According to the judgment of the case Gunaratnam against the Registrar General, a party under the age of 18 cannot enter into a valid marriage in Sri Lanka. Parents’ permission or consent to such a marriage is invalid before the law.

According to that judgment, the provisions pertaining to the law authorizing the marriage of a minor with the consent of a competent authority should be repealed. Accordingly, steps have already been taken to draft a bill to amend the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act and concurrently to that, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal tabled by the Minister of Justice to repeal the relevant inconsistencies in the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act and to advice the legal draftsman to prepare a bill for the same.