Customary Marriage (Registration) Act

1. "currency point" has the value assigned to it in Schedule 1 to this Act;
2. "customary marriage" means a marriage celebrated according to the rites of an African community and one of the parties to which is a member of that community, or any marriage celebrated under Part III of this Act;
3. "date of marriage" means the date of the registration of the marriage;
4. "guardian" includes a parent or any person in loco parentis;
5. "Minister" means the Minister to whom functions under this Act are assigned;
6. "monogamous marriage" means a marriage between a man and a woman by which neither of them during the subsistence of the marriage shall be at liberty to contract any other form of marriage with any other person;
7. "monthly returns" means the returns made by registrars to the Registrar General under section 15;
8. "prescribed" means prescribed by the Minister by statutory order;

3 further items remain in the statutory text above.

1. (1) Every subcounty, the cities of Kampala, Jinja, Masaka and Mbale and every area specified in Schedule 2 to this Act shall be a marriage district for the purpose of the registration of customary marriages under this Act.
2. (2) The Minister may, by statutory order-
3. (a) alter, amalgamate or subdivide the marriage districts as he or she may think fit;
4. (b) amend Schedule 2 to this Act.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. All subcounty chiefs and the town clerks of the city of Kampala, the municipalities of Jinja, Masaka and Mbale and of the townships specified in Schedule 1 to this Act shall be registrars for their respective marriage districts

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) Customary marriages may be celebrated in any part of Uganda.
2. (2) Customary marriages may be polygamous.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. A registrar of a marriage district shall cause to be kept in his or her office a "customary marriage register book" in the prescribed form

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) The parties to a customary marriage shall, as soon as may be, but in any event not later than six months after the date of completion of the ceremonies of marriage, attend at the office of the registrar of the marriage district in which the customary marriage took place, with at least two witnesses to the marriage ceremonies, to register details of the marriage.
2. (2) The parties shall register the marriage as "a customary marriage".
3. (3) The registrar shall, upon payment of the prescribed fee, enter such details of the marriage as may be prescribed in the customary marriage register book and the registrar, the parties to the marriage and the witnesses shall write their names in the customary marriage register book.
4. (4) The two witnesses to the registration of the marriage may be the parents, brothers, sisters, uncles or aunts of either of the parties, chiefs, clan heads or other persons of standing.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. At the time of registration of a customary marriage the registrar shall, upon payment of the prescribed fee, issue to the parties a certificate in the prescribed form

1. A registrar of a marriage district may register a customary marriage after the expiration of six months' period specified in section 6 on payment of such fee as may be prescribed.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) At the time of registration of a customary marriage, the registrar shall, where applicable, record in the customary marriage register book details of any marriage settlement made in connection with that marriage.
2. (2) A copy of such record certified by the Registrar General as being a true copy shall be admissible as evidence in any court proceedings and shall be prima facie evidence of the settlement.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. A certificate of a customary marriage issued under this Act or a certified copy of the certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the marriage for all purposes in any written law

1. (b) the male party to it has not attained the age of eighteen years;
2. (c) one of the parties to it is suffering from mental illness;
3. (d) the parties to it are within the prohibited degrees of kinship specified in Schedule 2 to this Act or the marriage is prohibited by the custom of one of the parties to the marriage; or
4. (e) one of the parties has previously contracted a monogamous marriage which is still subsisting.

1. (1) Notwithstanding section 34 of the Marriage Act, where a person was married under the Marriage Act or under any other law relating to marriage and subsequently contracted a customary marriage during the subsistence of the previous monogamous marriage, but before the coming into force of this Act, the subsequent customary marriage shall be deemed to be a valid marriage.
2. (2) Where a person contracted a customary marriage and subsequently contracted a monogamous marriage under any law or a Muslim marriage under the Marriage and Divorce of Mohammedans Act or any other law, the previous marriage under customary law shall remain valid in spite of the subsequent marriage.
3. (3) This section shall not apply to marriages celebrated after the coming into force of this Act.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. Where a person contracts a customary marriage under this Act and subsequently contracts a monogamous or Muslim marriage with another person, the validity of the customary marriage shall not be affected by the monogamous or Muslim marriage, but the monogamous or Muslim marriage shall be void

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) The Registrar General shall supply every registrar with all registers, records and forms as may be prescribed under this Act.
2. (2) The Registrar General shall have custody of all monthly returns made by registrars and shall cause to be prepared from the monthly returns alphabetical indexes of the marriages registered.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. Within ten days of the last day of each month, every registrar shall forward to the Registrar General a copy of all entries made by him or her during the preceding month in the customary marriage register book

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. All registers, monthly returns and indexes in the custody of the Registrar General and the registrars of marriage districts shall be open for inspection by members of the public during the prescribed hours and upon payment of the prescribed fee

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) The Registrar General and a registrar of a marriage district shall, upon payment of the prescribed fee, furnish a certified copy of any entry in a register or return in his or her custody a certified copy of any extract from the entry.
2. (2) The copy of any entry in any register or return or the copy of any extract from the entry, which is certified under the hand of the Registrar General to be a correct copy, shall be prima facie evidence in all court proceedings of the facts contained in the copy.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) The Registrar General, or any registrar when authorised by the Registrar General, may correct any error in any register, return, index or certificate.
2. (2) Any correction made under subsection (1) shall be done without erasure and shall be authenticated by the Registrar General.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (b) if he or she made the document or uttered the statement knowing the matter to be false, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred twenty currency points or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

This section states a single governing proposition and does not enumerate separate elements.

Citing judgments are indexed, but no express interpretive proposition has yet passed the passage-verification threshold. Open Judicial treatment for the citing passages.

1. Whenever, after the commencement of this Act, any persons who do not belong to any indigenous tribe of Uganda desire to contract a customary marriage, one of the parties to the intended customary marriage shall sign and give to the registrar of the district in which the customary marriage is intended to take place a notice in the prescribed form

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. If the person giving such notice is unable to write or is insufficiently acquainted with the English language, or both, then it shall be sufficient if he or she places his or her mark or cross to the notice in the presence of some literate person who shall attest to it, which attestation shall be in the prescribed form

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. Every registrar shall supply forms of notice on payment of the prescribed fee to any persons applying for them

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) Upon receipt of such notice the registrar shall cause it to be entered in a book to be called the "customary marriage notice book" which may be inspected during office hours without fee.
2. (2) The registrar shall also publish the notice by causing a copy of it to be affixed on the outer door of his or her office and to be kept exposed there until he or she grants his or her certificate as provided in section 25, or until three months have elapsed.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) The registrar, at any time after the expiration of twenty-one days and before the expiration of three months from the date of the notice, upon payment of the prescribed fee, shall issue his or her certificate in the prescribed form; except that he or she shall not issue the certificate until he or she has been satisfied by affidavit-
2. (a) that one of the parties has been resident within the district in which the marriage is intended to be celebrated at least fifteen days preceding the granting of the certificate;
3. (b) that each of the parties to the intended marriage, not being a widower or widow, has attained the age of twenty-one or that, if he or she is under that age, the consent made requisite has been obtained in writing and is annexed to the affidavit; and
4. (c) that the parties to the intended marriage are not within the prohibited degrees of kinship specified in Schedule 2 to this Act.
5. (2) Such affidavit may be sworn before the registrar or before a magistrate.
6. (3) The registrar or magistrate taking the affidavit shall explain to the person making it what are the prohibited degrees of kindred and affinity and the penalties which may be incurred under other provisions of this Act.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. The Minister, upon proof being given to him or her by affidavit that there is no lawful impediment to the proposed marriage, and that the necessary consent, if any, to the marriage has been obtained, may, if he or she shall think fit, dispense with the giving of notice, and with the issue of the certificate of the registrar, and may grant his or her licence, which shall be in the prescribed form authorising the celebration of a marriage between the parties named in the licence by a registrar

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. A person whose consent to a marriage is required, or who may know of any just cause why the customary marriage should not take place, may enter a caveat against the issue of the registrar's certificate, by writing at any time before the issue of the certificate the word "Forbidden" opposite to the entry of the notice in the customary marriage notice book, and appending to it his or her name and place of abode, and the grounds upon or by reason of which he or she claims to forbid the issue of the certificate, and the registrar shall not issue his or her certificate until the caveat shall be removed as provided in this Act

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. Where a person, such as referred to in section 27 resides outside Uganda, an objection signed in accordance with the laws of his or her country of residence relating to the attestation of documents and duly authenticated by a notary public consul or other person authorised by the laws of that country in that behalf shall be sufficient evidence of objection to the celebration of that marriage

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) Wherever an objection is made to or a caveat is entered against the issue of a certificate, the registrar shall refer the matter to the chief magistrate, and that court shall summon the parties to the intended marriage and the person by whom the caveat is entered, and shall require the person by whom the caveat is entered to show cause why the registrar should not issue his or her certificate, and shall hear and determine the case in a summary way; and the decision of the High Court shall be final.
2. (2) Where a person who made the objection under section 28 resides outside Uganda, the procedure set out in the Civil Procedure Rules of issuing commissions in respect of persons resident beyond the local jurisdiction of the court shall apply.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) If the chief magistrate decides that the certificate ought to be issued, the judge shall remove the caveat by cancelling the word "Forbidden" in the customary marriage notice book in ink, and writing in the customary marriage notice book, immediately below the entry and cancellation, the words "Cancelled by order of the High Court" and signing his or her name to that writing.
2. (2) The registrar shall then issue his or her certificate, and the marriage may proceed as if the caveat had not been entered; but the time that has elapsed between the entering and the removal of the caveat shall not be computed in the period of three months specified in section 25.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. The chief magistrate may award compensation and costs to the party injured if it appears that a caveat was entered on insufficient grounds

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. If either party to an intended customary marriage, not being a widower or widow, is under twenty-one years of age, the written consent of the father, or if he is dead or suffering from mental illness, of the mother, or if both are dead or suffering from mental illness, of the guardian of the party, must be produced annexed to the affidavit as aforesaid before a licence can be granted or a certificate issued

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (1) If the person required to sign the consent is unable to write, or is insufficiently acquainted with the English language, or both, then he or she shall sign the consent by placing his or her mark or cross to it in the presence of one of the following persons: any magistrate, justice of the peace, district commissioner, registrar of the High Court, registrar of marriages, registrar of deeds, medical officer in the service of the Government, county chief, subcounty chief or any other person as the Minister may, by statutory instrument, appoint.
2. (2) Such signature shall be attested by such persons in a prescribed form.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. Where the person required to sign the consent resides outside Uganda, a consent signed in accordance with the laws of that country of residence relating to the attestation of documents and duly authenticated by a notary public consul or other person authorised by the laws of that country in that behalf shall be sufficient authority for the celebration of that marriage

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. This Part of this Act shall not apply to people who belong to any indigenous tribe of Uganda

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. (a) prescribing the forms to be used and the particulars to be given under this Act;
2. (b) the fees to be paid under this Act;
3. (c) details of the marriage to be given to the registrar and the Registrar General;
4. (d) providing for the manner in which any documents shall be signed;
5. (e) prescribing registers, records and indexes to be kept under this Act and providing for inspection of them and the making of returns under this Act;
6. (f) providing for the provision of certified copies of records or extracts of records kept under this Act;
7. (g) prescribing the hours during which customary marriages may be registered and all names and particulars given; and
8. (h) generally prescribing anything required to be prescribed under this Act.

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. The parties to a customary marriage which was celebrated before the 1st day of October, 1973 that did not register the marriage by the 30th day of September, 1978 shall, in such a manner as the Minister may by statutory order provide, register the marriage and pay a registration fee not exceeding two hundred fifty currency points

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.

1. The Minister responsible for finance may, by statutory instrument, with the approval of Cabinet, amend Schedule 1 to this Act Schedule 1 (Sections 1, 38)

No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.