Legal Age to Marry in New Zealand

Polygamous marriages cannot be contracted in New Zealand. Section 205 of the Crimes Act 1961 provides for imprisonment of two to seven years for bigamy for a person who enters into a formal marriage or registered partnership recognised under New Zealand law with a third person if he is already married or in a registered partnership recognised under New Zealand law. [12] [13] Section 205 covers civil partnerships, which have been legal in New Zealand since 2005, and same-sex marriages, which have been legal since 2013. A registered partnership certificate allows couples to legally register their relationship. You don`t have to be a citizen to have a civil partnership in New Zealand. In May 2012, Labour MP Louisa Wall announced that she would introduce a bill for private MPs, the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, which allows same-sex couples to marry. [9] The bill was voted on May 30, 2012. [10] Green Party MP Kevin Hague also put a draft amendment on marriage (equality) to a vote on 24th June. [11] Wall and Hague stated that they intended to cooperate in support of the first bill, and in July Wall`s bill was withdrawn from the vote. However, polygamous marriages legally contracted in another country may be recognised in New Zealand provided that no person concerned was living in New Zealand at the time of unification. In a previous life, I was working overseas and had something to do with an immigration case where the applicant later turned out to be a human trafficker, a drug dealer and someone who insulted New Zealand citizens here in New Zealand. It should have been recognized immediately that this person was not a suitable person and was not of good character to come to this country when it was noted on his first immigration application many years ago that he had married a girl who was 9 years old at the time, in a country where it was legal to do so.

It may remain legal in some dark and desperate parts of the world to marry a child who is only 9 years old, but it is a foreign concept in New Zealand and something we cannot accept under any pretext, whether as a cultural norm or as something that is allowed by law. Fears that 16- and 17-year-olds would be forced into often abusive relationships led one MP to draft a bill that would require minors to give their consent in court. In New Zealand, children between the ages of 16 and 18 who cannot legally marry can still marry if they have their parents` consent. That`s great. But we just want to erect an additional barrier, just in case there is abuse in the system, whether cultural, religious or otherwise, where the child himself does not want to marry and he is forced, is forced – whether with a physical threat, an emotional threat, a financial threat, a sexual threat, It doesn`t matter – at a wedding. which you don`t really want to accept. We want to make sure that these children are doubly protected. But it`s not just about ethnicity. Yes, Ms. Hayes addresses this issue as a specific concern, but it is not just about that. What does this bill do? Well, it actually allows people as young as 16 or 17 to get married, but only if their application is accepted all the way to family court.

While this is currently possible with parental consent, this bill adds another element of certainty to the process by asking a family court judge to hear and approve the application. This will allow the cultural practice to continue, but it adds an element of security and comfort to the people of New Zealand that these people who are engaged – these young people who are engaged – are not forced to do so in marriage. I call on those present here to testify that I, AB, take you, CD, as my legal wife (or husband) to marry illegally now if you are under 16. Sixteen and 17 year olds must have parental consent. The purpose and full title of the controversial English Act of 1753 was “An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage”, in which an irregular or clandestine marriage was a marriage normally solemnized by an ordained clergy, but in a parish other than the home parish of those who wished to marry, and sometimes without banns or marriage licenses. issued by the Church. However, these marriages were legally recognized and binding and difficult to annul. In the 1740s, more than half of the marriages contracted in London were clandestine marriages contracted around Fleet Prison. Most of these “fleet weddings” served honest purposes when couples simply wanted to marry quickly or cheaply, but there were several scandals involving underage runaway, bigamy, kidnapping, and forced marriage. Some people were particularly concerned about the seduction or possible abduction of their daughters or young heiresses by unscrupulous individuals. Young women could marry at the age of twelve, and their elopement and marriage by a pastor, vicar, minister or vicar who was only interested in money to celebrate the marriage was considered disturbing. The provisions of this Act, insofar as they relate to capacity to marry, apply to the marriage of a person domiciled in New Zealand at the time of the marriage, whether the marriage is contracted in New Zealand or elsewhere.

We also know that the legal age of marriage in New Zealand is 18.