Vanuatu - Age of Consent
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Source: http://www.rrrt.org.fj/VANUATU/RESOURCE/FAMILY/MARRIAGE.PDF
Source: http://www.rrrt.org.fj/VANUATU/RESOURCE/FAMILY/VACTRLMA.PDF
Source: http://www.rrrt.org.fj/VANUATU/RESOURCE/LEAFLETS/VAMA.HTM
Legal Literacy For Women - Know Your Rights
WHAT IS MARRIAGE?
WHAT IS MARRIAGE?
What if someone objects to my marriage?
What if my marriage is not recognised by law?
Is there anyone who I cannot legally marry?
Can I be forced to marry?
Where can we have the ceremony?
How old must I be to marry?
The Ceremony
What if my parents or guardians do not agree to me
marrying?
CUSTOM MARRIAGES
What do I have to do to get legally married?
NULLITY
WHAT IS MARRIAGE?
There are three types of marriage in Vanuatu - custom, civil and church marriages.
There is no legal difference between a church and a civil ceremony as long as the person
who conducts the marriage is
registered by the government to perform marriages. Nearly all leaders of established
churches are registered.
You should ask before you marry whether or not the person who will be conducting your
marriage is registered. If you are
married by a person who is not registered you are not legally married.
This will be important for you later on if you decide to separate or divorce and make a
claim for maintenance or
matrimonial property.
A custom marriage can only be performed in accordance with the local custom practices of
the village or area.
What if my marriage is not recognised by law?
If you are a wife within a marriage that is not recognised by the law, the law calls you a
de facto wife (a wife in fact as opposed
to wife in law). If you are a de facto wife and you separate from your husband you will
not get any protection the law has to
offer to lawfully married women. For example the laws relating to divorce will not be
available to you.
Can I be forced to marry?
No you cannot. The law says that marriage in Vanuatu must be voluntary. This means that
both the man and the woman must
freely agree to the marriage.
If either the man or the woman is being forced into the marriage it will be an unlawful
marriage. It can be declared a Nullity (of
no legal effect). Nullity is different from getting a divorce. When a marriage is declared
a Nullity it is like the marriage never
happened.
A person who is found guilty of forcing another person to marry can be fined up to 100,000
vatu or put in prison for up to 2
years, or both.
How old must I be to marry?
The youngest age for marriage in Vanuatu, if one or both of your parents agree to the
marriage, is:
* 16 years old for females
* 18 years old for males
If your parents are dead then whoever is looking after you (your guardian) must agree. If
you have two guardians it is enough if
one of them agrees.
What if my parents or guardians do not agree to me marrying?
If both your parents (or guardians) do not agree then you must be 21 years old before you
can marry.
This is because it is only once you reach the age of 21 years that you become an adult in
the eyes of the law and legally
responsible for you own actions.
If you are under 21 years old and your parents or guardian will not agree to your marriage
then you can ask the Magistrate's
Court to look at your case.
The Magistrate may allow you to marry even without your parents' or guardians' consent.
The Magistrate will need to hear evidence from you and from your parents or guardians.
The court will let you go ahead with the marriage if it believes that your parents or
guardians have unreasonably withheld their
consent. This means that they do not have a good reason for refusing to agree to your
marriage.
Just because your parents or guardians do not like the person you want to marry, or have
organised an arranged marriage for
you, this is not a good enough reason for not agreeing to your marriage.
What do I have to do to get legally married?
If you are getting married in a civil ceremony you will have to give notice of your
intended marriage on a form that you can get
from the District Registrar’s Office.
This may be filled out in Bislama, French or English. The notice must be signed by both
parties to the marriage, and then posted
outside the place where the ceremony is to be held so that it can easily be seen by
everybody.
For a church wedding you can do the same as for a civil ceremony, or the pastor at the
church where you are going to marry
can "call the banns".
Calling the banns means that on three sundays (or three of your religions’ Sabbath
days), one after the other, the pastor
announces at the public service of worship that you intend to marry.
The wedding must then take place in the same church within three months of the first
announcement.
If more than three months have passed since you have posted the notice or had the banns
called, you will have to post a new
notice or have the banns called again before you can marry.
What if someone objects to my marriage?
The public notice or calling of the banns is needed so that if there is someone who thinks
that your marriage should not go
ahead, they have a chance to make an objection to the marriage.
This is very rare but if someone does object they must bring proof, or evidence of why
they do not think that you should not
marry.
A person may object because they believe you :
* are being forced to marry; or
* are not old enough to marry; or
* are too closely related to the person you wish to marry; or
* are already married
Is there anyone who I cannot legally marry?
You cannot marry the following people:
* your mother or father, including your adopted mother or father;
* your child or your adopted child;
* your brother or sister, including half brothers and sisters (that is, if the person has
either the same mother or the same father as
you);
* your grandparent;
* your grandchild.
Where can we have the ceremony?
The wedding must take place in a public place. This means that it must be performed openly
in front of witnesses.
You will normally marry in the church where the banns were called or in the office of the
District Registrar. However, you can
marry somewhere else if this is necessary. Usually there has to be a good reason for this,
and the District Registrar or pastor
will decide if this is possible.
For a custom marriage you must follow the customary practice in deciding where your
marriage ceremony will take place.
The Ceremony
There must be at least two witnesses who are over the age of 21 years at the wedding.
Witnesses are people who can see and hear all of the marriage ceremony. Both you and your
husband-to-be must swear that
you wish to marry in front of these witnesses.
If the ceremony takes place in secret then it is not a legal marriage.
CUSTOM MARRIAGES
The laws relating to civil and church marriages also apply to custom marriages.
In the past custom allowed practices that the law has now made illegal.
For example, the law says that a woman cannot marry until she is 16 years old. Women often
married in custom at a much
younger age. This is against the law. A person who acts against this law can be fined up
to 20,000 vatu.
Arranged marriages will also be illegal if either the woman or the man does not want to
marry.
Anyone found guilty of forcing someone to marry against their will can be imprisoned by
the Court.
A custom marriage must also be registered to be recognised by the law. This will be
important if the marriage breaks down as
you will need to ask for maintenance for yourself and for any children of the marriage.
You only need to register your custom marriage if you are not going to have a church
marriage as well.
In Vila you can register your custom marriage at the Civil Status Office. Outside of Vila
you can go to the Court House to
register your custom marriage.
NULLITY
Nullity is different from getting a divorce.
A divorce is granted by the Court because of something that has happened after you are
already legally married.
A nullity is granted because there was a reason why you and your husband should not have
been allowed to get married, or
something was wrong with your marriage ceremony.
When a marriage is declared a nullity it is like the marriage never really happened. This
means that if your marriage is declared a
nullity you will not be able to claim maintenance or a share of property for yourself.
The court will make this order if you can prove that when the marriage took place one of
the
following was true :
* One of you was already married;
* You were not allowed to marry because you are too closely related by blood;
* The proper form of marriage was not carried out by the person performing the ceremony;
* You were forced to marry against your will;
* Either of you was not old enough to marry;
*Either you or your husband was of an unsound mind and not capable of understanding the
ceremony;
*You were mistaken about what the ceremony was and did not realise that you were getting
married;
*The marriage was not consummated (you never had sex) because one of you could not or
would not;
* At the time you married, one of you was either insane or suffering from epilepsy and the
other did not know;
* Either you or your husband was suffering from a venereal disease and the other did not
know;
*If you were pregnant by another man at the time and your husband did not know.
Some words explained:
consent - to consent to something means to agree to it freely, honestly, without being
forced and with a clear mind.
de facto - existing as a matter of fact rather than of legal right. A de facto wife is not
legally married.
divorce - the legal ending of a marriage in the courts (a marriage can also end either
because of a Degree of Nullity or death).
evidence - proof of what the facts are; for example, a birth certificate could be used as
evidence of what someone’s age is.
maintenance - the food, clothing and other basic needs that a husband must provide for his
wife and children, even after
divorce or separation.
matrimonial property - this is the goods, money and property owned or acquired by a
husband and wife together in a
marriage that are to be divided up between them if they separate or divorce
separate - when a married couple separate it means that they are n longer living together
as husband and wife
venereal disease - any infectious disease that is passed on by having sex, such as
syphilis.
witness - a witness is someone who can go to Court and say what they saw or heard with
their own eyes or ears (give
evidence).
You can get help from the following places:
Your local Police Station
Legal Rights Information Office
Port Vila, PO Box 1016
Phone: 23940
Ombudsman’s Office
Port Vila
Public Solicitor’s Office
Port Vila
Phone: 23450
Sanma Counselling Centre,
Luganville,
Phone 36157
Vanuatu Women’s Centre
Port Vila, PO Box 1358
Phone: 25764
This leaflet is one of a series published by the Vanuatu Legal Rights Information Office
to help you to understand
and to use the law. Other leaflets available to you are: