Family
The Family Code of 1997, with custom applying widely in practice
The 1997 Family Code governs marriage, filiation and succession, setting a minimum marriage age and regulating matrimonial regimes. Customary practice governs much of the country in fact, and the 2006 statute addressed reproductive health and violence against women.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Tribunaux de grande instance hear family matters; registrars celebrate marriage.
- Deadline — Birth registration: within the statutory period
- Deadline — Minimum age of marriage: 18
Governing law
- Loi n° 97.013 portant Code de la famille
- Loi n° 06.005 sur la santé de la reproduction
- Loi n° 10.001 portant Code pénal — FGM and early marriage offences
In practice
The 1997 Code sits alongside strong customary practice, and the displacement caused by successive conflicts has made civil registration itself patchy, which in turn undermines the Code's operation because proof of age, marriage and filiation depends on records that were often destroyed.