| (1) |
At criminal proceedings at which an accused is charged with bigamy, it shall, as soon as it is proved that a marriage ceremony, other than the ceremony relating to the alleged bigamous marriage, took place within the Republic between the accused and another person, be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the marriage was on the date of the solemnization thereof lawful and binding. |
| (2) |
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 solemnization of the alleged bigamous marriage there subsisted between the accused and another person a lawful and binding marriage— |
| (a) |
there is produced at such proceedings, in any case in which the marriage is alleged to have been solemnized within the Republic, an extract from the marriage register which purports— |
| (i) |
to be a duplicate original or a copy of the marriage register relating to such marriage; and |
| (ii) |
to be certified as such a duplicate original or such a copy by the person having the custody of such marriage register or by a registrar of marriages; |
| (b) |
if there is produced at such proceedings, in any case in which the marriage is alleged to have been solemnized outside the Republic, a document which purports— |
| (i) |
to be an extract from a marriage register kept according to law in the country where the marriage is alleged to have been solemnized; and |
| (ii) |
to be certified as such an extract by the person having custody of such register, if the signature of such person on the certificate is authenticated in accordance with any law of the Republic governing the authentication of documents executed outside the Republic. |
| (3) |
At criminal proceedings at which an accused is charged with bigamy, evidence— |
| (a) |
that shortly before the alleged bigamous marriage the accused had been cohabiting with the person to whom he is alleged to be lawfully married; |
| (b) |
that the accused had been treating and recognizing such person as a spouse; and |
| (c) |
of the performance of a marriage ceremony between the accused and such person, |
shall, as soon as the alleged bigamous marriage, wherever solemnized, has been proved, be prima facie proof that there was a lawful and binding marriage subsisting between the accused and such person at the time of the solemnization of the alleged bigamous marriage.
Statistics Act, 1999
