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By: Sharila Lazarus Information Officer Attorney-General’s Chambers Q1: What is the purpose of obtaining a licence before marriage? A: This is a normal procedure to ensure that accurate information has been provided before a marriage is officiated. Q2: What are the requirements of obtaining a licence? A: Birth certificates of the individuals getting married, names of 2 witnesses. If they are under the age of 21, they need consent from parents, if they are divorced, it is essential to provide divorce papers. In the case of widow/widower, death certificate of the previous spouse is required. Q3: How many types of marriage licences are there? A: There are 2 types. One is the Special Licence which has a validity of 28 days. This needs to be taken at least 3 days prior to the date of registry marriage. The same licence can also be issued for religious marriages. In this case, the religious priests are appointed or are in authority to officiate a marriage. The second one is the Notice of Intention to marry. Q4: What is the marriageable age? A: Any person may contract a valid marriage under the provisions of the Marriage Act. In the case of a male, of the age of eighteen or upwards and in the case of females sixteen years plus. Q5: When is it essential to seek consent? A: When either party of a proposed marriage is under the age of 21. Q6: Are there any records of the marriage officers? A: The Registrar General publishes once in every year a list of names, addresses, designations, denominations of all marriage officers then duly registered and every such annual publication shall be prima facie evidence in all courts of justice. Thus the names of the appointed marriage officers are yearly gazetted. Q7: Do the fees vary? A: Absolutely, registry marriage costs $22.50. Marriages officiated by priests costs $20.25. If a marriage is officiated at home by a registry officer, it overheads to $30.68. Q8: What are the powers bestowed upon marriage officers for solemnizing a marriage? A: The Registrar General may solemnize a marriage in any place in Fiji and the District Registrar may solemnize marriages within the limit of his district. In accordance with Cap 50 of the Marriage Act, any marriage officer may ask for several particulars required under the provisions of this Act touching any marriage. Q9: How many marriage officers does the Ministry currently have? A: There are currently (14) Civil Marriage Officers stationed in the Suva, Lautoka and Labasa Registries while 24 are based in the District Offices throughout Fiji. Q10: Is there a penalty on solemnizing a marriage without necessary requirements? A: Absolutely, the officer shall be guilty of offence and will be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars. Q11: Is it necessary to obtain pre-marital counselling? A: Under Section 6 of the Family Law Act which came into effect from 1 January, 2005, it requires pre-marital counselling services to be introduced into the marriage process whereby marriage celebrants/counsellors are identified to be appropriate personnel for facilitating counselling programmes known as premarital instructors. Q12: Is it appropriate for an institution to run marriage and education counselling programs? A: The Family Law Act 2003 states that a person or organization may apply to the Family Law Council for approval for a marriage education and counseling organization. Q13: The Ministry of Justice currently does not have a pre-marital counselor. Are there any plans to employ a marriage counselor in the Ministry as this is a prerequisite of marriage? A: A submission for a pre-marital counselor has been undertaken by the Ministry in year 2004 budget. Unfortunately this was not prioritized. Q14: For an essential service delivery Ministry, bigger space is required for the convenience of its customers. What has been done to encounter this problem? A: The BDM Registry was with full participation of moving over to the Kadavu House only to learn that the arrangement has now been cancelled. The other alternative is to introduce a new way of managing our records into electronic digital system which will give up most of the present record service for public service area. Q15: What has been done to admonish the problem of bigamy? A: The Registry has a sound and efficient computing system which now link births, deaths and marriages system. All applicants personal details are thoroughly searched and verified prior to the marriage and in doubt, applicants are normally requested to produce identification cards. Q16: Are there any major plans in place for the Marriage section of your Ministry? A: There is a demand to upgrade the standard of marriage certificate issued to the couple particularly the foreigners who are visiting Fiji as their wedding destination. In this regard, the Registry after consultation with other stakeholders, Fiji Visitors Bureau, Ministry of Tourism and Public Service Commission to have a Marriage Registry at the Nadi Airport. This proposal was shelved when the then Manager, Airports Fiji Limited levied commercial rental to the Ministry in respect of the office space given. Q17: What has been done so far to encourage innovation and service improvement in the Section? A: The BDM Registry staff are currently working under flexitime which encourages them to complete their daily tasks in their own time thus lessen overtime work. We have internal staff rotation on a quarterly basis to allow them to be multi skills and learning all processes involved the BDM Registry work. All new appointees to the BDM Registry are given orientation programme in learning the processes for about one month before they actually involve in the registration work. The Registry has sports/social club that takes care of the social, sports and health needs. The Registry staff normally meet on a monthly basis and special meeting is conducted on ad hoc basis should the need arises. Q18: Are there any other comments you would like to make? A: The Registry is currently facing shortage of staff. All our vacant posts are not being filled in view of the national policy on the 10% reduction. With the minimum number of staff available, we are presently holding the pressure of work quite well since this is not a busy period as we normally witnessed in the beginning and end of the year. The Registry is hoping to have these vacancies filled soonest so as to maintain our usual turnaround time of 10-15 minutes counter service. -END- |
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