President Mnangagwa Assents To Marriages Act
The new Marriages Act has been assented to by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and gazetted as law on Friday last week.
The law brings all marriage laws together, makes all marriages equal and provides a way to transform a registered customary union into a civil marriage.
The law also bans child marriages, with those arranging or solemnising such marriages facing five years in jail.
The Marriages Act recognises all marriages as equal, with a single register of marriages maintained by a single Registrar of Marriages.
However, there are distinct differences between civil marriages and customary marriages.
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The main difference between the two kinds of marriages is that men customarily married can have several wives, while those choosing a civil marriage cannot. There are also different ways of solemnising these marriages.
Besides civil marriages and customary marriages, there is a civil partnership.
This is the informal living together of a couple on a genuine domestic basis but without any marriage whatsoever.
The new Act states that any property or assets acquired during the partnership will be distributed in the same way that property is distributed when a married couple divorces, using the same law.
In all marriages and civil partnerships, both partners have to be aged 18 or over and there has to be explicit agreement by both partners.
Underage marriages and forced marriages will result in those involved, except the child or the forced partner, facing criminal charges and jail terms of up to five years.
