Malaysians Spouses Who Married Overseas Can Register Divorce Back Home Court Rules

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High Court judge Azizan Arshad says the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act grants couples the same rights as those who had their marriages solemnised locally.High Court judge Azizan Arshad said the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act ‘explicitly empowers’ the court to consider a divorce registration application.PETALING JAYA: The High Court in George Town, Penang, has ruled that Malaysian courts have the authority to allow couples with at least one Malaysian spouse to register their divorce in the country despite getting married and having their marriages annulled overseas
Justice Azizan Arshad said Section 31 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act (LRA) 1976 provided such couples the same rights as those who had their marriages solemnised locally.
He made the ruling when presiding over a divorce registration application of a woman who got married in Indonesia.
Azizan said that in the present case, the 47-year-old Indonesian woman and her Malaysian husband are currently in the country.
“Therefore, the LRA is applicable,” he said in a recent judgment.
He said the LRA “explicitly empowers” the court to consider such applications.
In allowing the woman’s application, Azizan said he was satisfied that their marriage had met all the conditions as outlined in the legislation and was valid.
The couple were married and their union was registered in Pekalongan, Indonesia, on June 30, 2012.
They came to Malaysia and registered their marriage here on Aug 15, 2012 under the LRA.
Their marriage encountered irreconcilable difficulties and ended in divorce, and the dissolution proceedings were conducted in Pekalongan.
Following this, the woman and her five children, aged between eight and 19, returned to Malaysia.
She then applied to register the divorce locally on April 11 this year. - FMT

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