The Laws of Fiji
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Last Updated: 1 December 2016
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH FAMILY DIVISIONS OF THE HIGH COURT AND THE MAGISTRATES COURT, TO MAKE FRESH PROVISIONS RELATING TO DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE, SPOUSAL AND CHILD SUPPORT, PARENTING RESPONSIBILITY AND SPOUSAL PROPERTY, TO PROVIDE FOR MARRIAGE COUNSELLING AND RECONCILIATION, AND FOR RELATED MATTERS
[FAM 32] Nullity of marriage32
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(2) A marriage that takes place after the commencement of this Act is void if—
- (a)either of the parties is, at the time of the marriage, lawfully married to some other person;
- (b)the parties are within a prohibited relationship;
- (c)the marriage is not a valid marriage under the law of the place where the marriage takes place, by reason of a failure to comply with the requirements of the law of that place with respect to the form of solemnisation of marriages;
- (d)the consent thereto of either of the parties is not a real consent because—
- (i)it was obtained by duress or fraud;
- (ii)that party is mistaken as to the identity of the other party or as to the nature of the ceremony performed; or
- (iii)that party is mentally incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony; or
- (e)either of the parties is not of marriageable age,
and not otherwise.
(3) Marriages that are within a prohibited relationship are marriages—
- (a)between a person and an ancestor or descendant of the person; or
- (b)between a brother and a sister (whether of the whole blood or the half blood).
(4) Any relationship specified in subsection (3) includes a relationship traced through, or to, a person who is or was an adopted child, and, for that purpose, the relationship between an adopted child and the adoptive parent, or each of the adoptive parents, is deemed to be or to have been the natural relationship of child and parent.
(5) Nothing in subsection (4) makes it lawful for a person to marry a person whom the first mentioned person could not lawfully have married if that subsection had not been enacted.
(6) For the purposes of this section—
- (a)a person who has at any time been adopted by another person is deemed to remain the adopted child of that other person notwithstanding that any order by which the adoption was effected has been annulled, cancelled or discharged or that the adoption has for any other reason ceased to be effective; and
- (b)a person who has been adopted on more than one occasion is deemed to be the adopted child of each person by whom he or she has been adopted.