Family
Multiple marriage statutes with no unified code
Uganda has never enacted a unified marriage law: the Marriage Act, Customary Marriages (Registration) Act, Marriage and Divorce of Mohammedans Act and Hindu Marriage and Divorce Act operate in parallel. The Constitutional Court struck down discriminatory divorce grounds in Uganda Association of Women Lawyers v Attorney General.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Family Division of the High Court and magistrates' courts hear matrimonial matters; customary marriage is registered with the sub-county chief.
- Deadline — Customary marriage registration: within six months of celebration
- Deadline — Minimum age of marriage: 18 under article 31 of the constitution
Governing law
- Marriage ActCap 251
- Customary Marriages (Registration) ActCap 248
- Divorce Act (Cap 249), as modified by constitutional litigation
In practice
The absence of a unified statute means Ugandan family law is genuinely fragmented by religion and custom, and the courts rather than parliament have done the equalising work — most notably in striking down the Divorce Act's provision that gave husbands and wives different grounds for divorce. A Marriage and Divorce Bill has been before parliament in various forms since the 1960s without enactment.