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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | African marriages under the marriage act: African law or common law? |
Author: | Bennett, T.W. |
Year: | 1977 |
Periodical: | The Rhodesian Law Journal |
Volume: | 17 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 3-28 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Zimbabwe |
Subjects: | conflict of laws customary law family law marriage law |
Abstract: | When Africans enter into a marriage under the Marriage Act - also described as a civil or Christian marriage - questions of conflict of laws inevitably arise. This is because the extent to which African law and the common law (in the sense of the law of the land other than African law) respectively apply to such a situation is not immediately obviou's. The relevant statutes by no means provide a complete answer to these questions. Nevertheless, statutory provisions and judicial decisions justify the drawing up of a list of aspects of the marriage governed by the common law. Some of these are clear enough, but the question of bigamy is far more complicated and is treated at length. A number of aspects may be governed by African law or by the common law. These include: the matrimonial proprietory regime, intestate succession, the status of the spouses, custody and guardianship of minor children, engagement, lobolo agreements. These questions are treated in the article. Notes; ref. |