Family
The 1993 Persons and Family Code, with monogamy only
The Code des Personnes et de la Famille of 1993 recognises only monogamous civil marriage and governs filiation and matrimonial regimes. Succession is largely uncodified and governed by custom, which has historically disadvantaged daughters — a longstanding reform proposal that has not been enacted.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Tribunaux de résidence and de grande instance hear family matters; communal registrars celebrate marriage.
- Deadline — Birth registration: within the statutory period at the commune
- Deadline — Minimum age of marriage: 21 for men and 18 for women under the 1993 Code
Governing law
- Décret-loi n° 1/024 du 28 avril 1993 portant Code des personnes et de la famille
- Loi n° 1/13 de 2016 portant prévention et répression des violences basées sur le genre
- Custom as applied to succession
In practice
The absence of a succession statute is the most consequential gap in Burundian family law: because inheritance is governed by custom, daughters commonly do not inherit land, and in one of the most densely populated and land-scarce countries in Africa that has direct economic consequences. A succession bill has been repeatedly proposed since the 2000s without adoption.