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Law to be amended to allow for equal benefits for husband and wife
Kaieteur News – Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC has said the Government of Guyana will soon move to amend the marriage law to allow both husband and wife to have equal benefits in a separation. Nandlall was at the time speaking on his programme, “Issues in the News”.
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall SC
He explained that the proposed legislation – the Matrimonial Causes (Amendment) Bill 2024 is set to remove existing discriminatory provisions. The Attorney General said in an environment where equal treatment is now a guaranteed fundamental right, the law must make provision for equal treatment.
According to Nandlall, for over a century, the legislation was set where women were treated differently from men, and men treated differently from women. He noted “…We have now changed that wherever we found this inequality of gender and we have now changed the language to ensure that there is gender equality and equal treatment.”
Additionally, if passed by the National Assembly, the Attorney General said it will also see the removal of any provision relation to restitution of conjugal rights. Nandlall said “In our Matrimonial Clauses Act, there is something called restoration of conjugal rights. What that means, is that if there is a break in conjugal rights or a breakdown in conjugal, meaning parties living together, and they have a dispute and they become estranged, one of those parties could approach the court and get a court order directing a restoration of those relations.”
“It didn’t matter that the two persons can’t live together anymore, that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and that there is great fracture in the relationship and that there are irreconcilable differences, one party could have gone to the court, in particular the husband to get an order to make the wife come back.”
The bill also proposes to amend other provisions of the Principal Act, and specific sections in the Summary Jurisdiction (Magistrates) Act, which only provide for maintenance and protection of the property of a wife. The move to amend the law is based on a landmark ruling by Chief Justice (AG) Roxane George-Wiltshire, last February. The ruling stemmed from a constitutional motion filed to challenge the alimony laws that have existed in Guyana since the early 1900s.
In the matter, a husband through his attorney, Tamara Evelyn-Khan, sought to apply for his ex-wife to pay him maintenance following their divorce but was told that he could not apply because the law does not allow for men to benefit from spousal support.
As a result, the man moved to the High Court to challenge the law, specifically Section 14 of the Matrimonial Causes Act on the grounds that it violated his constitutional rights to equal protection and benefits from the law and is discriminatory on the basis of sex and gender.
In her decision, Justice George-Wiltshire declared that Section 14 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, Chapter 45 :02 is discriminatory on the basis of sex and gender and is therefore unconstitutional as being in violation of Article 149 and Article 149 D of the Constitution of Guyana, to the extent that on a decree for dissolution or nullity of marriage, it provides for men only to pay a gross or annual sum of money to or maintain their former wives, and not for women to pay a gross or annual sum of money to or maintain their former husbands. Therefore, until the National Assembly makes adequate provision, Section 14 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, Chapter 45:02 is hereby modified to permit applications by either a husband or a wife for payment of a gross or annual sum of maintenance so that the said Section 14 is in compliance with Articles 149 and 149D of the Constitution of Guyana.
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