Family
Marriages Act 2022 consolidating civil and customary marriage and banning child marriage
The Marriages Act (Chapter 5:15), 2022 consolidated the previously separate civil and customary marriage statutes, set 18 as the minimum age for all marriages following the Constitutional Court's decision in Mudzuru, and recognised unregistered customary unions for limited purposes. Civil marriage is monogamous; registered customary marriage may be polygynous.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The High Court and designated magistrates hear divorce; customary law courts hear customary matters.
Governing law
- Marriages Act (Chapter 5:15), 2022 — minimum age 18; consolidation of marriage regimes
- Matrimonial Causes ActChapter 5:13
- Children's ActChapter 5:06
In practice
Mudzuru v Minister of Justice (2016) is the leading case: the Constitutional Court held that any law permitting marriage under 18 was unconstitutional, and the 2022 Act implements that ruling across both the civil and the customary regimes simultaneously.