Jamaica

Summary of Domestic Prohibition

Slavery and slave trade

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Practices similar to slavery

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Servitude

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Forced or compulsory labour

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Human trafficking

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Forced marriage

Provisions related to forced marriage in Jamaica are found in the 1989 Matrimonial Causes Act, which addresses a marriage where the consent was obtained by duress or fraud, or where one party was mistaken as to the identity of the other party or as to the nature of the ceremony performed, or mentally incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony at the time of the marriage at Article 4. Provisions related to forced marriage in Jamaica are also found in the 1898 Marriage Act, which addresses going through the ceremony of marriage knowing that the marriage is void while the other person believes it to be valid at Article 66, with a potential penalty of imprisonment for ten years.

Consent to marriage

Provisions requiring consent to marriage in Jamaica are found in the Hindu Marriage Act , section 7(e) of which states that the parties, understanding the nature of the contract, shall freely consent to marrying one another in the presence of the marriage officer who solemnizes the marriage, and shall sign or mark a certificate drawn up by the said officer in aocordance with the provisions of section 10. Section 4 of the Matrimonial Causes Act further recognises that the consent of a party or prospective party to a marriage is invalidated where the person is subjected to coercion or at the time of marriage was mentally unstable.

Servile marriage

There appears to be no legislation in Jamaica that prohibits servile matrimonial transactions.

Marriage trafficking

Provisions related to marriage trafficking in Jamaica are found in the Trafficking in Persons Act, as amended in 2013, which prohibits practices similar to slavery at Article 2, with a potential penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years and/or a fine.

Minimum age for marriage

The minimum age for marriage in Jamaica is 18, without differentiation by gender, as set out on Article 24 of the 1897 Marriage Act. However, marriages below this age may be permitted with the relevant consent. These exceptions are not differentiated by gender, and allow marriage as early as 16, as set out on Article 3.4 and 24 and of the 1897 Marriage Act. Where marriages are conducted involving a person below 16, the marriage shall be void, as set out on Article 3.4 of the 1897 Marriage Act. In addition, the minimum age for marriage in case of spouses of Hindu or Muslim religion, is 16 without differentiation by gender, as set out on Article 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act and Article 7 of the 1976 Muslim Marriage Act.

Region

Latin America and Caribbean

Regional Court

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Legal System

Common

International Instruments

1926 Slavery Convention
Not Party
1953 Protocol to the Slavery Convention
Not Party
1956 Supplementary Slavery Convention
30 July 1964
1966 ICCPR
03 October 1975
1930 Forced Labour Convention
26 December 1962
2014 Protocol to the 1930 Forced Labour Convention
13 June 2017
1957 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
26 December 1962
1999 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
13 October 2003
2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons
29 September 2003
1998 Rome Statute of the ICC
Not Party
1956 Supplementary Slavery Convention
30 July 1964
1966 ICCPR
03 October 1975
1966 Optional Protocol to the ICCPR
03 October 1975
1966 ICESCR
03 October 1975
2008 Optional Protocol to the ICESCR
Not Party
1962 Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
Not Party
1957 Convention on the Nationality of Married Women
30 July 1964
1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child
14 May 1991
2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
26 August 2011
2011 Optional Protocol to the CRC on a communications procedure
Not Party
1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
19 October 1984
1999 Optional Protocol to CEDAW
Not Party
1978 Convention on the Celebration and Recognition of the Validity of Marriages
Not Party
2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons
29 September 2003
1998 Rome Statute of the ICC
Not Party
1999 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
13 October 2003

International Obligations

  • Slavery
  • Servitude
  • Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery
  • Forced Labour
  • Human Trafficking
  • Marriage Trafficking

Regional Organisations

  • Inter-American Court of Human Rights
  • Commonwealth
  • Caribbean Community
  • Organisation of American States

Legislative Provisions

CONSTITUTION OF JAMAICA 1962 (REV. 2011)

Article 13. Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
1.Whereas-
a.the state has an obligation to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms;
b.all persons in Jamaica are entitled to preserve for themselves and future generations the fundamental rights and freedoms to which they are entitled by virtue of their inherent dignity as persons and as citizens of a free and democratic society; and
c.all persons are under a responsibility to respect and uphold the rights of others recognized in this Chapter,
the following provisions of this Chapter shall have effect for the purpose of affording protection to the rights and freedoms of persons as set out in those provisions, to the extent that those rights and freedoms do not prejudice the rights and freedoms of others.
3.The rights and freedoms referred to in subsection (2) are as follows-
a.the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in the execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which the person has been convicted;
o.the right to, protection from torture, or inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment as provided in subsections (6) and (7);
p.the right to freedom of the person as provided in section 14;
6.No person shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment.
Article 14. Protection of freedom of the person
1.No person shall be deprived of his liberty except on reasonable grounds and in accordance with fair procedures established by law in the following circumstances-
Article 18. Status of marriage
1.Nothing contained in or done under any law in so far as it restricts-
a.marriage; or
b.any other relationship in respect of which any rights and obligations similar to those pertaining to marriage are conferred upon persons as if they were husband and wife,
to one man and one woman shall be regarded as being inconsistent with or in contravention of the provisions of this Chapter.
2.No form of marriage or other relationship referred to in subsection (1), other than the voluntary union of one man and one woman may be contracted or legally recognized in Jamaica.Jamaica Constitution

OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT (AS AMENDED TO 2010)

69. Child stealing
Whosoever shall unlawfully, either by force or fraud, lead or take away, or decoy or entice away, or detain any child under, the age of fourteen years, with intent to deprive any parent, guardian, or other person having the lawful care or charge of such child, of the possession of such child, or with intent to steal any article upon or about the person of such child to whomsoever such article may belong; and whosoever shall, with any such intent, receive or harbour any such child, knowing the same to have been by force or fraud led, taken, decoyed, enticed away, or detained as in this section before-mentioned, shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned for a tern not exceeding seven years, with or without hard labour:
Provided, that no person who shall have claimed any right to the possession of such child, or shall be the mother, or shall have claimed to be the father of an illegitimate child, shall be liable to be prosecuted by virtue hereof on account of the getting possession of such child out of the possession of any person having the lawful charge thereof.

70. Kidnapping
1) Whosoever shall kidnap a person with intent-
(a) to hold him against his will for ransom, whether by way of money or valuables or any promise to do or refrain from doing anything or any other consideration; or
(b) to cause him to be unlawfully sent or transported out of
Jamaica against his will; or
(c) to hold him for service against his will,
shall be guilty of a felony and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for life with or without hard labour.
(2) Whosoever conspires to commit an offence against subsection (1) or solicits, encourages, persuades or endeavours to persuade any person to commit such an offence shall be guilty of a ‘misdemeanour and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding ten years with or without hard labour.
(3) In proceedings under this section where the person in relation to whom the offence is alleged to have been committed is a child under the age of fourteen years any action shall be deemed to be against his will if it is against the hill of his parent or guardian, or other person having the lawful care or charge of such child.
(4) For the purposes of this section a person “kidnaps” when he unlawfully, either by force or fraud, leads or takes away, decoys or entices away, or detains or secretes any other person, so, however, that the fact that a person in relation to whom the offence is alleged to have been committed did not resist is not a defence unless the accused proves that the failure to resist was not caused by fraud or by threats, duress, force or exhibition of force.

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (PREVENTION, SUPPRESSION AND PUNISHMENT) ACT (AS AMENDED 2013)

Article 2. Interpretation
1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
2) “debt bondage” means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge or the use by the debtor of his personal services or those of a person under his control as security for or payment of a debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are nor respectively limited or defined;
“exploitation” includes-
(a) the exploitation of the prostitution of a person;
(b) compelling or causing a person to provide forced labour;
(c) keeping a person in a state of slavery or servitude;
(d) engaging in any form of sexual exploitation;
(e) illicit removal of organs;
(f) keeping a person in debt bondage;
“exploitation of the prostitution of a person” means the deriving by one person of monetary or other benefit through the provision of sexual services for money or other benefit by another person;
“forced labour” means any work or services exacted from a person by threat of penalty and for which the said person did not offer himself to provide such work or services voluntarily;
“servitude” means a relationship of dependency in which
the labour or service of a person is provided or obtained
by threats of ham or death to that person or
another person, or through any scheme, plan, or pattern
intended to cause the person to believe that if he
does not perform such labour or service he or another
person will suffer ham or be killed;
”sexual exploitation” means compelling the participation of a person in-
(a) prostitution;
(b) the production of child pornography or other pornographic material;
(c) any other sexual activity,
as a result of being subjected to threat, coercion, abduction, the effects of narcotic drugs, force, abuse of authority or fraud;
“slavery” means the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised by another, and includes practices similar to slavery, such as bondage and serfdom;
Article 4. Trafficking in persons
4,-(1) A person commits the offence of trafficking in persons. persons where, for the purpose of exploitation he-
(a) recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives another person within Jamaica;
(b) recruits, transports or transfers another person from Jamaica to another country; or
(c) recruits, transports, transfers, or receives another person from another country into Jamaica, by any of the specified means in subsection (2).
(2) The means referred to in subsection (1) are-
(a) threat or use of force or other form of coercion;
(b) abduction;
(c) deception or fraud;
(d) the abuse of-
(i) power; or
(ii) a position of vulnerability;
(e) the giving or receiving of a benefit in order to obtain the consent of a person who has control over another person.
(3) Notwithstanding the absence of the use of any of the means specified in paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (2), a person who recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives a child for the purposc of ccploitation of [hat child commits the offence of trafficking in persons.
(4) It shall not be a defence for a person who commits the offence of trafficking in persons that the offence was committed with the victim’s consent.
(5) A person who facilitates the offence of trafficking in persons commits an offence.
(6) A person who commits the offence of trafficking in persons or who facilitates that offence is liable on conviction on indictment before a Circuit Court to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(7) A person who, for the purpose of committing or facilitating an offence under subsection (I) conceals, removes, withholds or destroys any-
(a) travel document that belongs to another person; or
(b) document that establishes or purports to establish another person’s identity or immigration status,

is liable on conviction on indictment before a Circuit Court to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(8) Every person who receives a financial or other benefit knowing that it results from the offence of trafficking in persons commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment before a Circuit Court to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(8A) A person commits an offence where that person conspires with any other person to commit an offence of trafficking in persons and shall be liable on conviction on indictment before a Circuit Court to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(9) For the purposes of this section, an offence under subsection (1) is facilitated-
(a) where the facilitator knows that such an offence is intended to be facilitated;
(b) whether or not the facilitator knows the specific nature of the offence that is intended to be facilitated; and
(c) whether or not the offence was actually committedJamaica Trafficking in Persons Law .Jamaica Trafficking in Persons Amendment

THE CHILD CARE AND PROTECTION, ACT 2004

33. No person shall employ a child under the age of on employ- thirteen years in the performance of any work.
34. – (1) No person shall employ a child who has attained the age of thirteen years, but who has not attained the age of fifteen years, in the performance child of any work other than in an occupation included on the list of prescribed occupations referred to in subsection (2).
41. – (1) Every person who – (a) causes or procures any child; or (b) having the custody, charge or care of a child, allows the child, to be in any street, premises or place for the purpose of begging or receiving alms, or of inducing the giving of alms commits an offence against this Act. (2) If any person while singing, playing, performing or offering anything for sale in a street or public place has with him a child who has been lent or hired out to him, the child shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be in that street or place for the purpose of inducing the giving of alms. (3) Where an offence under this section is committed by a person mentioned in subsection (1)(b) – (a) in the parish of Kingston or the parish of St. Andrew, such offence shall be triable by the Family Court – Corporate Area Region; and (b) in a parish within the geographical jurisdiction of a Family Court established pursuant to Part II of the Judicature (Family Court) Act, such offence shall be triable by that Family Court.

MINIMUM WAGES ACT

Article 5. Penalty for not paying wages in accordance with minimum rate fixed under the provisions of section 3
(1) Where any minimum wage has been fixed by the Minister under this Act an employer shall in cases to which the minimum wage is applicable pay wages to the person employed at not less than the minimum wage and if he fails so to do shall be liable on summary conviction before a Resident Magistrate in respect of each offence to a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars, and to an additional penalty not exceeding twenty dollars for each day on which the offence is continued after conviction therefor.
(2) On the conviction of an employer under the provisions of subsection (1) the court may by the conviction adjudge the employer convicted to pay in addition to any penalty such sum as appears to the court to be due to the person employed on account of wages, calculated on the basis of the minimum wage:
Provided that the power to order the payment of wages under this subsection shall not be in derogation of any right of the person employed to recover wages by any other proceedings.

MARRIAGE ACT

24. Persons who have reached the age of eighteen years of age and widowers or widows may marry without the consent of others.
Where a person under eighteen years of age not being a widower or widow intends to marry, the father, or if the father is dead the lawful guardian or guardians, or if there is no such guardian the mother, if unmarried, of such person shall have authority to consent to the marriage of such person, and such consent is hereby required unless there is no person authorized to give it resident in this Island.
If the parent or guardian whose consent is necessary is non compos mentis, or unreasonably withholds consent to the marriage of any person, either party to the intended marriage may refer the matter to a Judge of the Supreme Court who shall decide upon the same in a summary way, and if the proposed marriage appears upon examination to be proper, the Judge shall certify the same, and his certificate shall be as good and effectual as if the necessary consent had been given.
Where either of the parties to a marriage is under eighteen years of age, not being a widower or widow, and is married under this Act without the consent of the person having Where either of the parties to a marriage is under eighteen authority to consent, it shall be lawful for the Supreme Court, on an information by the Attorney-General, to declare a forfeiture of all interest in any property acquired by such marriage by the other party thereto, and to secure the same for the benefit of the party so under eighteen years of age, and of the issue of the marriage.Jamaica Marriage Act

AWAD REPORT

Paragraph 240
From 1833 an Act abolishing slavery and making slavery unlawful was passed in Jamaica. The Act stated that from 1 August 1834, all slave sin Jamaica should be freed. Since that time it has not been necessary to legislate against slavery, but section 13 of the Jamaica Constitution Order in Council, 1962, provides:
“Whereas every person in Jamaica is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, that is to say, has the right… to each and all of the following:
(a) Life, liberty, security of the person…
Paragraph 243
Slavery was abolished in Jamaica on 1 august 1834 by the Slavery Abolition Act 1832.

CONSTITUTION OF JAMAICA 1962 (REV. 2011)    

Article 18. Status of marriage

1.Nothing contained in or done under any law in so far as it restricts-

a.marriage; or

b.any other relationship in respect of which any rights and obligations similar to those pertaining to marriage are conferred upon persons as if they were husband and wife,

to one man and one woman shall be regarded as being inconsistent with or in contravention of the provisions of this Chapter.

2.No form of marriage or other relationship referred to in subsection (1), other than the voluntary union of one man and one woman may be contracted or legally recognized in Jamaica.

 

Jamaica Constitution 1962 (Rev 2011) – Constitute Project (PDF)

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (PREVENTION, SUPPRESSION AND PUNISHMENT) ACT (AS AMENDED 2013)    

Article 2. Interpretation

1)      In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-

2)      “debt bondage” means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge or the use by the debtor of his personal services or those of a person under his control as security for or payment of a debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are nor respectively limited or defined;

“exploitation” includes-

(a) the exploitation of the prostitution of a person;

(b) compelling or causing a person to provide forced labour;

(c) keeping a person in a state of slavery or servitude;

(d) engaging in any form of sexual exploitation;

(e) illicit removal of organs;

(f) keeping a person in debt bondage;

“exploitation of the prostitution of a person” means the deriving by one person of monetary or other benefit through the provision of sexual services for money or other benefit by another person;

“forced labour” means any work or services exacted from a person by threat of penalty and for which the said person did not offer himself to provide such work or services voluntarily;

“servitude” means a relationship of dependency in which the labour or service of a person is provided or obtained by threats of ham or death to that person or another person, or through any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that if he does not perform such labour or service he or another person will suffer ham or be killed;

”sexual exploitation” means compelling the participation of a person in-

(a) prostitution;

(b) the production of child pornography or other pornographic material;

(c) any other sexual activity,

as a result of being subjected to threat, coercion, abduction, the effects of narcotic drugs, force, abuse of authority or fraud;

“slavery” means the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised by another, and includes practices similar to slavery, such as bondage and serfdom;

Article 4. Trafficking in persons

4,-(1) A person commits the offence of trafficking in persons. persons where, for the purpose of exploitation he-

(a) recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives another person within Jamaica;

(b) recruits, transports or transfers another person from Jamaica to another country; or

(c) recruits, transports, transfers, or receives another person from another country into Jamaica, by any of the specified means in subsection (2).

(2) The means referred to in subsection (1) are-

(a) threat or use of force or other form of coercion;

(b) abduction;

(c) deception or fraud;

(d) the abuse of-

(i) power; or

(ii) a position of vulnerability;

(e) the giving or receiving of a benefit in order to obtain the consent of a person who has control over another person.

(3) Notwithstanding the absence of the use of any of the means specified in paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (2), a person who recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives a child for the purposc of ccploitation of [hat child commits the offence of trafficking in persons.

(4) It shall not be a defence for a person who commits the offence of trafficking in persons that the offence was committed with the victim’s consent.

(5) A person who facilitates the offence of trafficking in persons commits an offence.

(6) A person who commits the offence of trafficking in persons or who facilitates that offence is liable on conviction on indictment before a Circuit Court to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(7) A person who, for the purpose of committing or facilitating an offence under subsection (I) conceals, removes, withholds or destroys any-

(a) travel document that belongs to another person; or

(b) document that establishes or purports to establish another person’s identity or immigration status,

is liable on conviction on indictment before a Circuit Court to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(8) Every person who receives a financial or other benefit knowing that it results from the offence of trafficking in persons commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment before a Circuit Court to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(8A) A person commits an offence where that person conspires with any other person to commit an offence of trafficking in persons and shall be liable on conviction on indictment before a Circuit Court to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(9) For the purposes of this section, an offence under subsection (1) is facilitated-

(a) where the facilitator knows that such an offence is intended to be facilitated;

(b) whether or not the facilitator knows the specific nature of the offence that is intended to be facilitated; and

(c) whether or not the offence was actually committed.

 

Jamaica Trafficking in Persons Law – English (PDF)

 

Jamaica Trafficking in Persons Amendment 2013 – English (PDF)

MARRIAGE ACT 1897

MARRIAGE ACT    1897, as amended

3.41) If both the parties. to a marriage knowingly and wilfully acquiesce in the solemnization of the marriage ceremony between them-

(a) by or before a person not being a Marriage Officer;

or

(b) otherwise than in the presence of two witnesses besides the Marriage Officer solemnizing or witnesssing and registering the marriage, the marriage shall be void.

(2) A marriage solemnized between persons either of whom is under the age of sixteen years shall be void.

(3) If the parties to any marriage are within the. prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity &cording to the law of England from time to time in force, the marriage shall be void.

 

24. Persons who have reached the age of eighteen years of age and widowers or widows may marry without the consent of others.

Where a person under eighteen years of age not being a widower or widow intends to marry, the father, or if the father is dead the lawful guardian or guardians, or if there is no such guardian the mother, if unmarried, of such person shall have authority to consent to the marriage of such person, and such consent is hereby required unless there is no person authorized to give it resident in this Island.

If the parent or guardian whose consent is necessary is non compos mentis, or unreasonably withholds consent to the marriage of any person, either party to the intended marriage may refer the matter to a Judge of the Supreme Court who shall decide upon the same in a summary way, and if the proposed marriage appears upon examination to be proper, the Judge shall certify the same, and his certificate shall be as good and effectual as if the necessary consent had been given.

Where either of the parties to a marriage is under eighteen years of age, not being a widower or widow, and is married under this Act without the consent of the person having Where either of the parties to a marriage is under eighteen authority to consent, it shall be  lawful for the Supreme Court, on an information by the Attorney-General, to declare a forfeiture of all interest in any property acquired by such marriage by the other party thereto, and to secure the same for the benefit of the party so under eighteen years of age, and of the issue of the marriage.

25. Any person may notify his objection to an intended marriage by giving notice of objection to the Civil Registrar or Marriage Officer publishing the notice of banns.

A Civil Registrar or Marriage Officer shall disregard all objections to an intended marriage not appearing on the face of the notice, unless-

(a) they are stated prior to the issuing of the certificate of publication;

(b) they are stated in writing by the person making the same;

(c) the person making the same appears personally to lodge the same with the Civil Registrar or Marriage Officer, and in his presence makes and subscribes a declaration as nearly as may be in the form set forth in Schedule H, which the Civil Registrar or Marriage Officer shall endorse on the written statement of objection.

With regard to objections timely and duly made as above provided, the following provisions shall apply-

(a) Where the objection does not set forth a legal impediment to a marriage between the parties intending to solemnize marriage, or a refusal of consent on the part of any person whose consent is required to such marriage, the Civil Registrar or Marriage Officer shall suspend the issue of his certificate pending decision upon the objection, and shall consider the Objection and make such enquiry thereabout as he sees fit, and himself decide thereupon.

(b) Where the objection sets forth by legal impediment to a marriage between the parties, or any refusal of consent on the part of any person whose consent is required to such marriage, the Civil Registrar or Marriage Officer shall refer the matter to a Judge of the Supreme Court (who shall decide upon the same in as summary a way and as expeditiously as the circumstances of the case will exit), and shall suspend the issue of his certificate \until. he receives a certified copy of the Judge’s decision to the effect that the parties are not in respect of the said objection disqualified from contracting such\marriage, or where the objection is in the nature of a refusal of consent that such refusal is unreasonable and ought not to interfere with such marriage.

If it appears to the Judge that the objection, in case of an objection to a marriage, was frivolous and vexatious, he may condemn the party making it, to pay, in addition to costs and all civil damages to which he may be liable, a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be enforced in the same way as a judgment of the Supreme Court.

55. Every officer under this Act who makes default, and every person who has held and has ceased to hold any office under this Act, who, while holding or on ceasing to hold such office has made default in strictly complying with the foregoing provisions of this Act, whether by omission or commission, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, and shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding one million dollars.

56. Every Marriage Officer who shall neglect or refuse to forward to the Registrar-General the Duplicate Register of any marriage solemnized by or before him as required by section 32, or shall fail to deliver or cause to be delivered any Original Marriage Register Book when filled in or on his ceasing to be a Marriage Officer as mentioned by section 49, or any Marriage Register Book which is required for inspection at the General Register Office and has been requisitioned for by the Registrar-General, or shall lose or injure, or allow to be injured, whilst in his keeping, any Marriage Register Book or Marriage Register shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding one million dollars for any such offence

61. Whoever intentionally and unlawfully falsifies, destroys, injures, removes or; conceals, any public Register of Marriages, with intent to defeat, or obstruct or pervert the course of justice, or to defraud, or injure any person, shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.

62. Whoever pretends to be or acts as a Marriage Officer not being lawfully authorized to act as such officer, is guilty of a misdemeanour, unless he shows that he so pretended or acted under a mistake of law or of fact.

63. Every Marriage Officer who, being bound or authorized -as such officer to attest or certify, by writing or otherwise, any document or matter, or that an event has or has not happened, attests or certifies such document or matter knowing the same to be false in any material particular, or attests or certifies that such an event has happened or has not happened (as the case may be) without knowing or having reason to believe that the same has happened or has not happened (as the case may be) according to his attestation or certificate, shall be liable to imprisonment for two years.

64. Every Marriage Officer who unlawfully and intentionally destroys, injures, falsifies or conceals, any notice or certificate which is in his possession, custody or control, or to which he has access by virtue of his office, shall be liable to imprisonment for two years.

66. Whoever goes through the ceremony of marriage, or any ceremony which he represents to be a ceremony of marriage, knowing that the marriage is void on any ground with and that the other person believes it to be valid, shall be believing it valid, liable to imprisonment for ten years.

69. Whoever endeavours to prevent a marriage by pretence that his consent thereto is required by law, or that any person whose consent is so required does not consent, or that there is any legal impediment to the performing of such marriage, shall, if he do so knowing that such pretence is false or without having reason to believe that it is true, be liable to imprisonment for two years.

70. Liability to imprisonment for any specified period under the provisions of this Act includes liability to imprisonment for any shorter period, and with or without had labour.

MATRIMONIAL CAUSES ACT 1898

4.-1) Decrees of nullity of marriage may be pronounced by the Court on the ground that the marriage is void on any of the following grounds, that is to say-

(a) one of the parties to the marriage had a husband or wife living at the time of the marriage;

(b) the marriage was void under the provisions of the Marriage Act or any other laws relating to marriage in force for the time being in Jamaica;

(c) in the case of marriages celebrated on or after the 1st day of February, 1989, the consent of either of the parties to the marriage was not a valid consent because-

(i) it was obtained by duress or fraud; or

(ii) one party was mistaken as to the identity of the other party or as to the nature of the ceremony performed; or

(iii) one party was mentally incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony at the time of the marriage; or

(d) the parties to the marriage were, at the time of the marriage, of the same sex.

(2) For the purposes of this section marriage includes a purported marriage.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as validating any marriage which is by law void but with respect to which a decree of nullity has not been granted.

HINDU MARRIAGE ACT

7. The requisites of a valid Hindu marriage under this Act are-

(a) that each of the parties shall belong to and profess the Hindu faith or religion;

(b) that both parties shall, as regards age, mental capacity and otherwise, be capable of contracting marriage;

(c) that the parties shall not be within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity and affinity according to the Hindu law relating to marriage;

(d) that the marriage shall be solemnized by a marriage officer in accordance with the rites of the Hindu religion and the provisions of this Act;

e) that the parties, understanding the nature of the contract, shall freely consent to marrying one another in the presence of the marriage office who solemnizes the marriage, and shall sign or mark a certificate drawn up by the said officer in accordance with the provisions of section 10;

(f) that the marriage shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act:

Provided that no marriage shall be contracted under this Act (or if so contracted and registered the same shall be null and void ab initio) where it is shown that either of the parties has, or had at the time of such contracting and registration, a wife or husband alive, or where either party is directly descended from the other, or where the female is the sister of the male, either by the full or the half blood, or where the male is the brother of the female either by the full or the half blood.

 

8.

1) The age at which a person, being a member of the Hindu religion, is capable of contracting marriage shall be sixteen years.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (11, a marriage shall not be solemnized by a marriage officer if the intended husband (not being a widower) is under twenty-one years of age, or the intended wife (not being a widow) is under eighteen years of age unless the consent to the marriage of the party who is under age by virtue of the provisions of this section has been given in accordance with the following provisions of this section, and such consent is hereby required for the marriage of such party under age.

(3) The required consent may be given by the father of the party under age, and if the father is dead by the guardian or guardians appointed or one of them, and in case where there is no such guardian then by the mother of such party so under age, and if the mother is dead then by such other person as may be appointed for the purpose by the Minister.

(4) In case the father, mother or a guardian whose consent to a marriage is required under the provisions of subsection (3) is absent from the Island or is unable or refuses to give such consent or is not of sound mind, it shall be lawful for the party in whose case consent is required to apply to the Minister to appoint a person, being a member of the Hindu community, to investigate the circumstances of the intended marriage, and if after such investigation it appears to the person so appointed that there are no reasonable objections to such intended marriage such person shall so formally declare in writing and such declaration shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed equivalent to such consent as aforesaid.

(5) A consent shall, when not given in the presence of a marriage officer, be signified in writing under the hand of the person giving such consent, and the marriage officer by whom the marriage is solemnized shall record onthe certificate drawn up by him in accordance with the provisions of section 10, the fact that the required consent has been given, the name of the person by whom such consent has been given and whether such consent has been given in his presence or in writing.

19. Any person who without being duly licensed as a marriage officer –

(a) knowingly and wilfully solemnizes any marriage purporting to be a marriage under the provisions of this Act; or

(b) knowingly and wilfully makes or signs any certificate or signs any declaration required by this Act to be made or signed by a marriage officer, shall be guilty of felony and liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three years.

MUSLIM MARRIAGE ACT

Muslim Marriage Act

6. The requisites of a valid Mush marriage under this Act are-

(a) that each of the parties belongs to and professes the Muslim faith or religion;

(b) that each of the parties shall, as regards age, mental capacity and otherwise, be capable of contracting marriage;

(c) that the parties shall not by reason of anything contained in the Islamic law relating to marriage be prohibited from marrying one another;

(d) that the parties, understanding the nature of the contract, shall freely consent to marry one another;

(e) that the marriage shall be effected by or before a person appointed as a marriage officer under the provisions of this Act;

(f) that the marriage shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act :

Provided that no marriage shall be contracted under this Act, or if so contracted and registered, the same shall be null and void a6 initio, where it is shown that either of the parties has, or had at the time of such contracting and registration, a wife or husband alive, or where either party is directly descended from the other, or where the female is a sister of the male, either by the full or the half-blood, or where the male is a brother of the female, either by the full or the half-blood.

7. The age at which a person, being a member of the Muslim community, is capable of contracting marriage shall be sixteen years :

Provided that in the case of an intended marriage between persons either of whom being a male is under twenty-one years of age or being a female is under eighteen years of age (not being a widower or widow), the consent to such marriage, of the father if living, or, if the father is dead, of the guardian or guardians lawfully appointed or of one of them, and, if there is no such guardian, then of the mother of such person so under age, and, if there is no mother living, then of such other person as may be appointed for the purpose by the Minister, shall be certified in writing by the marriage officer by or before whom the marriage is effected upon the certificate of such marriage to be issued in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

8. In case any person whose consent to a marriage is required in accordance with section 7 is absent from the Island or is unable or refuses to give such consent or is not – of sound mind, it shall be lawful for the person desirous of contracting such marriage to apply to the Minister to appoint a person, being a member of the Muslim community, to examine into the circumstances of such intended marriage, and if upon such examination by the person so appointed it appears to him that there are no reasonable objections to such intended marriage, he shall so formally declare in writing and such declaration shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed equivalent to such consent as aforesaid.

19. Any person who without being duly appointed as a marriage officer-

(a) knowingly and wilfully solemnizes any marriage purporting to be a marriage under the provisions of this Act; or

(b) knowingly and wilfully makes or signs any certificate or signs any declaration required by this Act to be made or signed by a marriage officer, shall be guilty of felony and liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three years.