Family
Statutory and customary marriage with the Children's Code Act 2022
Marriage may be statutory, under the Marriage Act, or customary. Statutory marriage is monogamous; customary marriage may be polygynous and requires no registration. The Children's Code Act 12 of 2022 consolidated child law and set 18 as the age of marriage, though customary practice below that age persists.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The High Court hears statutory divorce; Local Courts apply customary law; the Subordinate Court handles maintenance.
Governing law
- Marriage ActChapter 50
- Matrimonial Causes Act 20 of 2007
- Children's Code Act 12 of 2022
In practice
Local Courts, staffed by lay adjudicators applying customary law, handle the large majority of Zambian family disputes, so the operative family law for most people is customary law as administered at that level rather than the Matrimonial Causes Act.