There is a common English idiom that says: “the more, the better”– it signifies that a larger quantity of something is preferrable than only having one. Consequently, there are many people who exploit our marriage system and marry more than one partner at the same time. What are the possible legal consequences to such acts?

This article seeks to engage on this aspects and exp[lore the legalities in as far as there may be criminal liability.

BIGAMY IS A CRIME

What is bigamy? It is a common law crime that is committed when a validly married person gets married to other person whilst still married to their former spouse. The criminal law dealing with the evidence of such a charge provides as follows:

“At criminal proceedings at which an accused is charged with bigamy, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that at the time of the solemnisation of the alleged bigamous marriage there subsisted between the accused and another person a lawful and binding marriage—”

Essentially, the crime is committed when someone concludes another lawful marriage with another. How does this happen on a day-to-day living? Such a crime can be committed by both men and women. In South Africa there are various marriage regimes, i will consider civil marriages and customary marriages to illustrate how such a crime of bigamy can easily take place.

Civil marriage is that marriage that requires solemnisation by a marriage officer and registration at the Home Affairs. This marriage is commonly known as “marriage by signing at the home affairs”. Its is distinguished by the fact that for it to come in to effect, the home affairs department is involved and they register such a marriage. Everyone who gets married in this way is recorded and there is certainty.

On the other hand, we have customary marriages. The law governing these type of marriages requires that they should also be registered with the department of home affairs. However, failure to register the marriage does not legally invalidate it, it is still legally recognized. What then often happens is that, a man or woman would get married in terms of customary rites and continue with such a marriage without having it registered.

When the relationship ends, they do not get divorced, rather they merely separate and move on. Once they have moved on, they get married to another person, either in terms of customary rites again or through civil marriage. It will not be easy to pick up that such a person getting married now is already still married because they never got divorced, consequenty, they commit a crime of bigamy.

Once bigamy as a crime has been committed, a criminal complaint at the South African Police Services can be made and investigated and any person may be accused and prosecuted. This is a serious crime and it has dire criminal and civil consequences.

CONCLUSION

You ought to take any marriage that you conclude seriously and avoid casually terminating it and entering into another, doing so may result in criminal charges of bigamy which upon conviction is punishable by a term of imprisonment and/or hefty fines, plus a criminal record that can hold you back.

When deciding to get married, or divorced from your partner, it is advisable to approach a legal specialist to ensure that you are doing things the right way and avoid committing any crimes, even if you are doing so unknowingly.

Reference List:

• Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977.
• Re: Rural Married Men - Rejection of Their Rural Wives Because of Urban Women [1995] ZAConAsmRes 234 (24 January 1995) Ltd 2006 (4) SA 205 (C).