SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The laws regulating marriages in Malawi consist mainly of ordinances, non-christian Asiatic religious laws, and the African customary laws. The diversenature of these laws explains the coexistence of multifarious marriages with differing and sometimes conflicting rights and obligations within the legal system of that country. The main theme of this thesis is to examine the formation and incidents of marriages in Malawi (formerly Nyasaland Protectorate). The laws governing the dissolution of, and the other matrimonial reliefs pertaining to those marriages are, for completeness, also discussed. The work is divided into three parts. Part I reviews the legal system within which the marriage laws operate. In dealing with the history and hierarchy of the courts administering these laws, especial reference is made to the customary arbitral tribunals. Chapter 2 concludes this part with a critical examination of the rules for the choice of laws in internal conflicts situations. Part II examines the contracting, consequences and termination of "statutory marriages", defined so as to include polygynous Asiatics marriages regulated by a certain ordinance. Among the highlights in this part of the thesis is the speculation in chapter 5 as to the possible incidents of certain Christian African marriages which are supposed to be without "any legal consequences whatever". Chapter 6 examines the penal provisions of the existing laws relating to irregularities in certain marriage laws. Part III is devoted to customary marriages. A description of the various types of customary marriages, their formation and registration in chapter 9, is followed by a critical examination of their "essentials" in chapter 10. Chapter 11 deals with the consequences of those marriages, whereas chapter 12 concludes this part with a review of the possible ways for terminating customary marriages.