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CIVIL CODE OF SAINT LUCIA
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CHAPTER SECOND THE FORMALITIES TO BE OBSERVED ON THE CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE

Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

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CHAPTER SECOND
THE FORMALITIES TO BE OBSERVED ON THE CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE

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    94.   All status officers authorised by law so to do are competent to celebrate marriage; but no officer who is a minister of religion can be compelled to celebrate a marriage to which any impediment exists according to the doctrine of his religion or the discipline of the church or religious community to which he belongs.

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    All marriages heretofore celebrated by Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist or Presbyterian ministers of religion shall be deemed to have been celebrated by a competent officer. (Amended by Act 6 of 1913)

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    95.   Marriages may be celebrated —

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      (a)     by licence granted by the Attorney General;

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      (b)     in the case of a religious marriage, after publication of banns or notice; and

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      (c)     in the case of a civil marriage, after publication of notice.

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           (Substituted by Act 14 of 2008, repealed by Act 9 of 2010 and inserted by Act 8 of 2014)

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    96.   

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      (1)     Persons intending marriage and who desire to obtain a licence shall apply by petition to the Attorney General stating the information specified in sub-article (3).

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      (2)     An application pursuant to sub-article (1) shall be—

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        (a)     accompanied by the prescribed fee, pursuant to sub-article (2)(A) and such other information as the Attorney General may require; and

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        (b)     lodged at the Attorney General's Chambers.

(2)     (A)     The prescribed fee for a licence shall be fixed by the Attorney General by Order published in the Gazette and the Attorney General may prescribe different fees for licences depending on the time from the date of the application within which a licence is required.

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    (3)     The petition shall state—

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      (a)     the christian or other names and surnames of the parties, their respective rank, profession or occupation;

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      (b)     the place where, and the status officer by whom it is proposed that the marriage is to be solemnized;

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      (c)     whether the parties or either of them have or has been previously married and if so whether there has been a divorce;

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      (d)     that they know of no impediment of kindred, or alliance, or other lawful cause, to prevent the proposed marriage;

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      (e)     where either of the parties, not being a widower or widow, is under the age of 18 years, that the consent of the person or persons whose consent to the marriage is required has been obtained.

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    (4)     A licence shall be in the form prescribed or approved by the Attorney General or his or her representative.

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    (5)     If any objection to the grant of any licence for a marriage be lodged at the Government Office, that objection being duly signed by or on behalf of the person who lodges it, stating his place of residence and the ground of objection, no licence shall issue until the Attorney General or his or representative has examined into the matter of the objection and is satisfied that it ought not to obstruct the grant of the licence for the marriage, or until the objection is withdrawn by the party who lodges it.

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    (6)     A marriage licence will not be issued unless the Attorney General or his representative is satisfied that the facts stated in the petition are true, and the Attorney General or his or her representative may require a further declaration of the facts to be made by some minister of religion, justice of the peace, or other respectable person approved by him or her.

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         (Amended by Acts 33 of 1933, 4 of 1993, 4 of 1988, 11 of 2004 and 14 of 2008)

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    97.   The banns or notice in the case of religious marriage and the notice in the case of civil marriage mention:—

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      1.     The names in full, the qualities or occupations, and the domiciles of the persons to be married;

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      2.     The names in full, the qualities or occupations, and the domiciles of their fathers and mothers, or if the woman has been previously married the name of her former husband. (Amended by Act 4 of 1988)

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    98.   “In the case of religious marriage the banns must be published audibly 3 times within a period of 2 months or the notice must be posted for a period of not less than 15 days near the door of a Church in the ecclesiastical parish in which one party resides. Where service is not held every week the publication of banns must be made on the 2 successive days when service is performed, after the day when the first publication is made. In any case where banns are published there must be an interval of not less than one week between each publication.

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    No minister of religion shall be obliged to publish the banns unless the particulars thereof as set out in the preceding article are delivered to him in writing at least 7 days before the date on which the parties wish the banns to be published for the first time. (Substituted by Act 4 of 1988)

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    99.   The publication of banns takes place during divine service in a church in each ecclesiastical parish in which the parties are resident.

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    100.   The publication of notice in the case of civil marriage takes place in a court-room of the Magistrate of each district in which the parties reside and during the sitting of the Court. The notice, which must be in writing, must be exhibited in a court-room for a period of not less than 15 days.

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    101.   A religious marriage may take place after due publication of notice according to the preceding article, or to article 98 even in the absence of banns or licence, if the minister of religion does not object to the celebration under the circumstances.

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    102.   After the due publication of banns or notice, the minister of the church or the Magistrate of the Court where the publication has been made, on the demand of one of the parties, is bound to grant, without fee, a certificate of the publication, containing the particulars of the banns or notice and the dates of the several publications.

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    103.   Before celebrating a marriage the status officer requires the production of a licence or a certificate of the due publication of banns or notice; except in the case of religious marriage, when the officer has made the publication himself or herself.

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    104.   The marriage cannot be celebrated if more than one month has elapsed from the date of the licence, or more than 3 months from the last publication of the banns or notice.

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    105.   In the case of an opposition its disallowance must be notified to the officer charged with the celebration. But opposition founded merely on a previous promise of marriage is of no effect.

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    106.   Marriage must be celebrated between sunrise and sunset. Contravention of this article subjects the officiating officer to a penalty not exceeding $240.

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    107.   Religious marriage is celebrated according to the forms prescribed by the religion of the celebrating officer.

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    108.   Civil marriage is celebrated as follows:—

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    Each party to be married solemnly declares in the presence of the other and in the presence of the status officer and at least 2 adult witnesses, that he or she takes the other for wife or husband, as the case may be, and that he or she solemnly believes that there is no legal impediment to the marriage.

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    109.   The marriage is concluded when both parties have made the required declaration and have signed the record of marriage.

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    110.   An officer who duly celebrates a marriage either by licence or after publication of banns or notice is, if he or she act in good faith, not responsible for the celebration.

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    110A.   

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      (1)     If the parties to a civil marriage desire to add the religious ceremony ordained or used by the church or persuasion of which they are members, they may present themselves after giving notice of their intention so to do, to the clergyman or minister of the church or persuasion of which they are members and the clergyman or minister upon the production of a certificate of their marriage before the district registrar and upon the payment of the customary fees (if any) may, if he sees fit, read or celebrate in the church or chapel of which he is the regular minister, the marriage service of the church or persuasion to which he belongs or nominate some other person to do so.

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      (2)     Nothing in the reading or celebration of a marriage service under this article shall supersede or invalidate any marriage previously solemnized in the office of a district registrar, and the reading or celebration shall not be entered as a marriage in any marriage register kept under this Code or under the Civil Status Act. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    111.   A marriage celebrated out of Saint Lucia between persons either or both of whom are, or afterwards become, subject to its laws, if it be valid according to the law of the place of celebration, is valid also in Saint Lucia if the parties did not go to such a place for the purpose of evading the law of Saint Lucia.

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    112.   

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      (1)     Notwithstanding anything in this Code contained, it shall be lawful for any status officer to perform the ceremony of marriage between any persons, without notice given of the intended marriage of such persons, or without banns having been first published, or without a licence, or after the expiration of the time specified in article 104, provided that both the parties between whom such ceremony of marriage shall be performed shall, at the time of the performance thereof, be legally competent to contract marriage and be of full age, and provided also that one at least of them to the best of the knowledge and belief of such status officer and of the other persons signing the certificate hereinafter required, shall be at the time of the performance of such ceremony, in a dying state, and that such dying person shall be a member of the religious communion or denomination to which such status officer shall belong.

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      (2)     Immediately after the solemnization of any such marriage, the officiating status officer shall transmit to the Registrar of Civil Status a certificate of the said marriage in the form set out below, signed by such status officer and by 2 credible witnesses present at the said marriage. Such statement shall be filed by the Registrar of Civil Status in a register to be specially kept for the purpose. The certificate shall be in the form set out in the Schedule hereto.

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      (3)     Subject to the observance of the foregoing conditions, a marriage solemnized under the provisions of this article shall be and be held to be good and effectual in law.

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      (4)     No marriage solemnized under the provisions of this article shall operate as a revocation of any will.

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           (Substituted by Act 34 of 1956)

Schedule

Marriage in Extremis
I, the undersigned ........................... Status Officer of (1) ........................ and we, the undersigned ..................... of (2) and of (2) ........................... being of the age of 18 years and upwards do hereby certify that on the ........................... day of ..........................., ........................, the ceremony of marriage was performed by me the said ........................ in the presence of us the said ................................. and ................................. between .................. of ..................... (3) .............................. and ................................. of ..................... (4) ................................. and that both the said .............................. and .............................. at the time of the performance of such ceremony were legally competent to contract marriage, and were of full age, and that the said (5) ..................... was a member of the same religious communion or denomination to which the said (6) ........................ belongs, that is to say, the (7) ........................; and that at the time of the performance of such ceremony, the said (8) ........................... was, to the best of our knowledge and belief, in a dying state.
Signatures.
     (1)     Residence.
     (2)     Residence and Profession.
     (3)     State whether bachelor or widower.
     (4)     State whether spinster or widow.
     (5)     Name of party in dying state.
     (6)     Name of Status Officer.
     (7)     Religious communion or denomination.
     (8)     Name of party in dying state.

(Amended by Act 4 of 1988)

Marriage of British Subjects (Facilities)

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    112A.   

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      (1)     Where a marriage is intended to be solemnized or contracted in Saint Lucia between a British subject residing in Saint Lucia and a British subject residing in England, Scotland or Ireland, a certificate for marriage lawfully issued in England, Scotland or Ireland, as the case may be, shall, in Saint Lucia, have the same effect as a certificate for marriage issued in Saint Lucia by a district registrar or status officer.

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      (2)     Where a marriage is intended to be solemnized or contracted in England, Scotland or Ireland between a British subject residing in England, Scotland or Ireland and a British subject residing in Saint Lucia, a certificate for marriage may be issued in Saint Lucia, by a district registrar or status officer in the like manner as if the marriage were intended to be celebrated in circumstances requiring the issue of such a certificate, and as if both British subjects resided in Saint Lucia.

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      (3)     For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this article the expression “certificate for marriage lawfully issued” means—

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        (a)     in the case of England, a certificate for marriage issued by a Superintendent Registrar;

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        (b)     in the case of Scotland, a certificate for marriage issued by a Registrar or a certificate of proclamation of banns;

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        (c)     in the case of Ireland, a certificate for marriage issued by a Registrar. (Added by Act 15 of 1916 as Substituted by Act 34 of 1956)

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    112B.   Special provisions with respect to marriages between persons one of whom at least is a British subject solemnized in a foreign country or place by or before a Marriage Officer within the meaning of the Foreign Marriage Act, 1892, are contained in the Foreign Marriages Act. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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