MASTER 0F COMPARATIVE

LAW (SHA 6015)

 Types of families in Contemporary Society- Important Terms of Reference

 Extended and Nucleus Family
 Same sex marriage
 Transsexual Marriage
 Single and lone family
 Stepfamilies
 Foster parents
 Consequences;
 Recognition as parents
 Parents in Courts- custody, mediation and disputes, visitation and custody in the event of
divorce, adoption procedures
 Financial Responsibility
 Recognition of stepchildren for the purpose of employment law
 Recognition of stepchildren for the purpose of State and Children Benefits and statutory
Heirs.
 Codification of family Law
 Purpose
 How the law being phrased in codified form
 Challenges in the application especially in Muslim countries
 Development of the law
Requirement of a valid marriage under family
law
CIVIL OR COMMON LAW MARRIAGE ISLAMIC LAW MARRIAGE

Parties Parties
Biologically male and female Biologically male and femaleNot a married
Not a married person person except for male
Within the prohibited degree Guardianship in marriage-father
Age Witnesses
Must be 18 and above or 16 with license Ijab and qabul

Other requirements-
Syarat/conditions
-Marriage must be consummated
-consent Consent of the girl
-mentally sound
-not pregnant at the time of marriage Age
 LEGAL ISSUES ON REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGE

whether failure to register the marriage will render such marriage

void ab initio.
UNDER CIVIL MARRIAGE
 on the fulfillments of basic requirements as well as solemnization;
 Certificate
 License
 Religious Ceremony, Custom or Usage-need to obtain a certificate/license for marriage for the purpose of validity
 Requirement to register –s. 34
 Under Convention on Consent, Age and Registration 1962- Recommend for all marriages to be registered in
appropriate official register by the competent authority
Muslim Marriage

 Validity depends on the fulfillment of rukn/pillars of marriage;

 Formalities are provided for but it will not affect the validity but rather administrative
offence
 Requirement to register- section 34
 In Six Widow’s case- polygamous marriage soleminised under the Chinese Custom. The
court referred to the certificate of marriage to see how the marriage was solemnized.

 Tv O [1993] 1 MLJ 168- marriage after 1 March 1982 – married under the Chinese
Customary marriage but it was not registered under section 22(4) . The Court declared the
marriage as void

 Chong Sin Jen V Janaki a/p Chellamuthu [1997] 5 MLJ 411- married according to Chinese
Customary Marriage- never solemnized nor registered under the LRA
 Later in Yeoh v Chew [2001] 4 MLJ 373
 Unregistered marriage took place on 2008. Wife committed suicide. The husband sought
to claim for funeral expenses. Court decided that the marriage must be registered to have a
valid effect

 Finally in Chai Sew Yin v Leong Wee Shing [2004] 1 CLJ 752 Federal Court decided that
the marriage that was solemnized under custom or religion but not registerd will be void
after 1 st March 1982
 Muslim Marriage- Nor lela bt Mohammad v Yusof maldoner [2004] 2 MLJ 629- married in
Austria, never registered in Malaysia. Legal disputes were decided by the civil court
 Any marriage that is not registered must register under section 31 of Islamic Family Law