Myanmar

Article 366.  

Whoever kidnaps or abducts any woman with intent that she may be compelled, or knowing it to be likely that she will be compelled, to marry any person against her will~ or in order that she may be forced or seduced to illicit intercourse, or knowing it to be likely that she will be forced or seduced to illicit intercourse, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; and whoever, by means of criminal intimidation as defined in this Code or of abuse of authority or any other method of compulsion, induces any woman to go from any place with intent that she may be, or knowing that it is likely that she will be, forced or seduced to illicit intercourse with another person shall also be punishable as aforesaid.  

 Article 370.  

Whoever imports, exports, removes, buys, sells or disposes of any person as a slave, or accepts, receives or detains against his will any person as a slave, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. 

 Article 371.  

Whoever habitually imports, exports, removes, buys, sells, traffics or deals in slaves shall be punished will transportation for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. 

 Article 466.

Whoever forges a document, purporting to be a record or proceeding of or in a Court of Justice, or a register of birth, baptism, marriage or burial, or a register kept by a public servant as such, or a certificate or document purporting to be made by a public servant in his official capacity, or an authority to institute or defend a suit, or to take any proceedings therein, or to confess judgment, or a power-of-attorney, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. 

 Article 493.

Every man who by deceit causes any woman who is not lawfully married to him to believe that she is lawfully married to him, and to cohabit or have sexual intercourse with him in that belief, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. 

 Article 496.

Whoever, dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention, goes through the ceremony of being married, knowing that he is not thereby lawfully married, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven-years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Myanmar Penal Code-English-PDF.

Article 3.  

The expressions contained in this Law shall have the meanings given hereunder:-  

(a) Trafficking in Persons means recruitment, transportation, transfer, sale, purchase, lending, hiring, harbouring or receipt of persons after committing any of the following acts for the purpose of exploitation of a person with or without his consent:  

(1) threat, use of force or other form of coercion;  

(2) abduction;  

(3) fraud;  

(4) deception;  

(5) abuse of power or of position taking advantage of the vulnerability of a person;  

(6) giving or receiving of money or benefit to obtain the consent of the person having control over another person. 

Explanation (1) Exploitation includes receipt or agreement for receipt of money or benefit for the prostitution of one person by another, other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced service, slavery, servitude, debt-bondage or the removal and sale of organs from the body. 

Explanation (3) Debt-bondage means the pledging by the debtor of his / her personal labour or services or those of a person under his/ her control as payment or security for a debt, when the length and nature of service is not clearly defined or when the values of the services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt.  

 Article 24.  

Whoever is guilty of trafficking in persons especially women, children and youth shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend from a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of imprisonment for life and may also be liable to a fine. 

 Article 25.  

Whoever is guilty of trafficking in persons other than women, children and youth shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend from a minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 10 years and may also be liable to a fine. 

 Article 26.  

Whoever is guilty of any of the following acts shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend from a minimum of 3 years to a maximum of 7 years and may also be liable to a fine:  

(a) adopting or marrying fraudulently for the purpose of committing trafficking in persons.  

(b) causing obtaining unlawfully the necessary documentary evidence documents or seal for enabling a trafficked victim to depart from the country or enter into the country. 

 Article 27.  

Whoever is guilty of making use or arranging with a trafficked victim for the purpose of pornography shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend from a minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 10 years and may also be liable to a fine. 

 Article 28.

Whoever: 

(a) is guilty of trafficking in persons with organized criminal group as provided in section 24 shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend from a minimum of 20 years to a maximum of imprisonment for life and may also be liable to a fine;  

(b) is guilty of trafficking in persons with organized criminal group as provided in sections 25, 26 or 27 shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend from a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of imprisonment for life and may also be liable to a fine; 

(c) is found to be a member of an organized criminal group shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment under sub-section (a) or subsection (b) whether he has personally taken part or not in the commission of the offence. 

 Article 32.  

Whoever prepares, attempts, conspires, organizes, administers or abets, or provides financial assistance to commit or in commission of any such offence shall be liable to the punishment provided in this Law for such offence. 

Persons who can marry under this Law 

9. A non-Buddhist man, who has attained the age of 18, and a Buddhist woman, who has attained the age of 18, may contract a valid marriage under this Act if the following facts are fulfilled:

(a) both parties shall not be of unsound mind; 

(b) consent to marry shall be voluntary and free from seduction, inducement, coercion, undue influence, fraud or misrepresentation; 

(c) if the woman has not attained the age of twenty, the consent of parents, or if they are dead, of the guardian de facto or of the guardian de jure, if any, shall be obtained; 

(d) in the case of a woman, no valid marriage shall subsist; 

(e) in the case of a man, no valid marriage shall subsist. 

 16. Any person may, in writing addressed to the Registrar, object to the intended marriage on the ground that the persons, who submitted application for marriage under section 11, did not comply with one or more of the conditions prescribed in section 9.

 21. The Registrar shall arrange “The Marriage Certificate” in quadruplicate, and shall deliver one each to both parties. If the wife is under 20 years of age, to her parent or guardian. The third copy shall be kept permanently at the office of District Administrative Officer. The fourth copy and the documents relating to the marriage shall be attached to the Book of Marriage Registration at the Township General

 26. In case of cohabitation between a non-Buddhist man and a Buddhist woman, as if they were both Buddhists and Myanmars, and if the said cohabitation could be assumed to be a valid marriage according to Myanmar Customary Law –

(a) They are deemed to have contracted a marriage from the beginning of such cohabitation, and shall be presumed to be married under this Act; 

(b) Such husband and wife may lodge an application to the Registrar, at any time from the day that cohabitation started, for registration under this Act. Then, the Registrar shall perform according to the provisions of sections 20 and 21 as if they were solemnized by him under section 19. 

 43. Any Registrar who solemnizes a marriage against any provision stipulated in sections 13, 14, subsection

(a) of section 16, sub-section (c)(i) of section 17, sub-section (f)(ii) of section 17 shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to one year or shall also be liable to fine not more than Kyats 50,000. 

The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936 

Art 3  

No marriage shall be valid if 

… 

c in the case of any Parsi (whether such Parsi has changed his or her religion or domicile or not) who has not completed the age of 21 years, the consent of his or her father or guardian has not been previously given to such marriage. 

 30. In any case in which consummation of the marriage is from natural causes impossible, such marriage may, at the instance of either party thereto, declared to be null and void.

 38. Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained, no suit shall be brought in any Court to enforce any marriage or any contract connected with or arising out of any marriage, if, at the date of the institution of the suit, the husband shall not have completed the age of sixteen years, or the wife shall not have completed the age of fourteen years.

 Christian Marriage Act 1872 

3 In this Act, unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context minor*” means a person who has not completed the age of twentyone years and who is not a widower or widow ; 

 19. The father, if living, of any minor, or, if the father be dead, the guardian of the person of such minor, and, in case there be no such guardian, then the mother of such minor, may give consent to the minor’s marriage, and such consent is hereby required for the same marriage, unless no person authorized to give such consent be resident in the Union of Burma.

 20. Every person whose consent to a marriage is required under section 19 is hereby authorized to prohibit the issue of the certificate by any Minister, at any time before the issue of the same, by notice in writing to such Minister, subscribed by the person so authorized with his or her name and place of abode and position with respect to either of the persons intending marriage, by reason of which he or she is so authorized as aforesaid.

 60. Every marriage between native Christians applying for a certificate shall, without the preliminary notice required under Part I I I , be certified under this Part, if the following conditions be fulfilled, and not otherwise ะ— (1) the age of the man intending to be married shall exceed sixteen years, and the age of the woman intending to be married shall exceed thirteen years ; (2 ) neither of the persons intending to be married shall have a wife or husband still living ; (3) in the presence of a person licensed under section 9, and of at least two credible witnesses other than such person, each of the parties shall say to the other— “ I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, A.B., in the presence of Almighty God, and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, do take thee, C.D., to be my lawful wedded wife [or husband] ” or words to the like effect : Provided that no marriage shall be certified under this Part when either of the parties intending to be married has not completed his or her eighteenth year, unless such consent as is mentioned in section 19 has been given to the intended marriage, or unless it appears that there is no person living authorized to give such consent.

 67. Whoever forbids the issue, by a Marriage Registrar, of a certificate, by falsely representing himself to be a person whose consent to the marriage personation is required by law, knowing or believing such representation to be false, or not having reason to believe it to be true, shall be deemed guilty of the offence described in section 205 of the Penal Code.

 71. A Marriage Registrar under this Act, who commits any of the following offences :— … (3) solemnizes, without any order of a competent Court authorizing him to do so, any marriage, when one of the parties is a minor, before the expiration of fourteen days after the receipt of the notice of such marriage, or without sending, by post or otherwise, a copy of- such notice to the Senior Marriage Registrar of the district if there be more Marriage Registrars of the district than one, and if he himself be not the Senior Marriage Registrar ;…

 Burma Divorce

Act 18. Any husband or wife may present a petition to the District Court or to the High Court, praying that his or her marriage may be declared null and void.

 19. Such decree may be made on any of the following grounds :— ( 1 ) that the respondent was impotent at the time of the marriage’ and at the time of the institution of the s u it; ( i) that the parties are within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity (whether natural or legal) or affinity ะ (3) that either party was a lunatic or idiot at the time of the marriage ; (4) that the former husband or wife of either party was living at the time of the marriage, and the marriage with such former husband or wife was then in force. Nothing in this section shall affect the jurisdiction of the High Court to make decrees of nullity of marriage on the ground that the consent of either party was obtained by force or fraud.