A critical analysis of bilateral (dual) marriages in Zambia

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Date

2023

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of the Western Cape

Abstract

In the Zambian context, marriage is one concept that has more than one definition This is because marriage can be legally contracted under two laws namely African customary law and statutory law. The former is potentially polygamous4 while the latter is monogamous. In terms of validity, a marriage that fulfills the dictates of either law becomes a valid marriage. In practice, however, those that contract their marriage under statute also fulfill the dictates of African customary law. The resultant effect is that such marriages are contracted under both laws thereby creating a ‘dual-legal’ marriage. In this research a dual marriage will conveniently be termed ‘bilateral marriage’ for ease of reference.

Description

Magister Legum - LLM

Keywords

Zambia, High Court, Private law, Marriage Act, Africa

Citation