Marriage in New Zealand

Marriage rates in New Zealand from 1961 to 2011.

Marriage is governed by an Act of Parliament in New Zealand. The minimum age at which couples can get married is 18 years of age but those aged 16 or 17 can get married if parental consent is obtained. Polygamy is not permitted, and there are prohibitions of marriages between some relatives and some who are already in a civil union.

There has been a steady reduction in the number of marriages since the 1970s and there has been a shift in the age of those who get married. Teenage brides made up 32 percent of all brides in 1971, compared with just 3 percent in 1999.^[1]

Legislation

New Zealand legislation relating to marriage was initially based on British law. The Marriage Act of 1854 was the first such Act governing aspects of marriage in New Zealand and the Marriage Act 1955 is the current legislation. The Marriage Amendment Act 2005 was passed predominately to add provisions relation to civil unions as a consequence of the passage of the Civil Union Act 2004.^[2]

In 2005, United Future Member of Parliament (MP) Gordon Copeland sponsored the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill that would have amended the Marriage Act to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, and amend anti-discrimination protections in the Bill of Rights related to marital and family status so that the bill could stand. This move was strongly criticised by opponents of the legislation, such as then-Attorney General Michael Cullen as an overly 'radical' attack on the Bill of Rights. The bill also would have prohibited the recognition of same-sex marriages from foreign countries as marriages in New Zealand. The bill had its first reading debate on 7 December 2005, and subsequently failed 47 votes in favour to 73 votes against.^[3][4]

In 2012 the National Party MP Jackie Blue introduced the Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill to prevent the forced marriage of 16 and 17 year olds. There are about 80 applications per year for marriages between 16 and 17 year olds.^[5]

In May 2012, Labour Party MP Louisa Wall stated that she would introduce a private member's bill, the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, allowing same-sex couples to marry.^[6] The bill was submitted to the members' bill ballot on 30 May 2012.^[7] Green Party MP Kevin Hague also submitted a same-sex marriage bill, the Marriage (Equality) Amendment Bill, to the ballot on 24 June^[8] Wall and Hague stated that they planned to work together in support of whichever bill comes up first, and in July Wall's bill was drawn from the ballot.

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is permitted in New Zealand as of the 19th of August 2013.

Polygamy

Polygamous marriages may not be performed in New Zealand. A married person who enters into another marriage in New Zealand is guilty of the crime of bigamy, which is punishable by up to seven years' imprisonment.^[9] Similar rules apply for civil unions, which have been legal in New Zealand since 2005. However, polygamous marriages legally performed in another country can be recognised in New Zealand, provided that no person involved was living in New Zealand at the time of the union. Advocacy for full legalisation of polygamy in New Zealand has come from some religious organisations and from polyamorous groups. However, polygamy has little public support among New Zealanders, and no major political party has endorsed its legalisation.

Polygamy existed in pre-European Māori society to a limited extent.

Marriage between relatives

Under Schedule 2 of the Marriage Act 1955, no person may marry their following relatives:

• grandparent
• parent
• child
• grandchild
• sibling (half or full)
• parent's sibling
• sibling's child
• grandparent's former spouse or civil union partner
• parent's former spouse or civil union partner
• child's former spouse or civil union partner
• grandchild's former spouse or civil union partner
• former spouse's or civil union partner's grandparent
• former spouse's or civil union partner's parent
• former spouse's or civil union partner's child
• former spouse's or civil union partner's grandchild

Forced marriage

Within some cultures the tradition of forced marriage is practised and this is done to a small degree in New Zealand. One women's support organisation reported that forced marriage makes up half of their youth work and one worker had 50 such cases over a four year period.^[10] A private member's bill, the Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill, has been submitted to address the problem of forced marriages.^[5]

See also

• Civil union in New Zealand
• New Zealand culture

References

External links

• Births, deaths and marriages at the Department of Internal Affairs
• Marriages, civil unions, and divorces at Statistics New Zealand
• Marriage and partnering at Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand