The court held that a marriage registered under s 31 of the LRA allows for the registration of a foreign divorce under s 107(3), irrespective of the marriage's solemnization location.

Azizan Md Arshad J:

(Enclosure 1)

Introduction

[1] The Applicant filed Enclosure 1, dated 11 April 2025, seeking the registration of a foreign divorce pursuant to s 107(3) of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (Act 164) ("LRA"). The application was heard and allowed by this Honourable Court on 27 May 2025.

Brief Facts

[2] In this instance, the Applicant Wife is an Indonesian national who is married to a Malaysian citizen. Their marriage was on July 30, 2012, and was officially registered in Perkalongan, Indonesia.

[3] The marriage subsequently encountered irreconcilable difficulties and ended in divorce. The divorce proceedings were conducted in Pekalongan, Indonesia, and as part of the decree issued by the District Court of Pekalongan, custody of the children was determined and granted accordingly.

[4] Upon their return from Indonesia, the parties formalized and registered their marriage in Malaysia in accordance with s 31 of the LRA. Following the dissolution of the marriage, the Applicant and the children returned to Malaysia. The Applicant is presently residing in Penang with her four children, aged between 8 and 19 years, comprising two boys and three girls. Her former husband also currently resides in Malaysia.

Proceedings

[5] In this case, the marriage that was solemnized abroad was subsequently registered in Malaysia in accordance with s 31 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (LRA), which provides as follows:

(1) Where any person who is a citizen of or is domiciled in Malaysia has contracted a marriage abroad, not being a marriage registered under s 26, such person shall:

(a) within six months after the date of such marriage, appear before the nearest or most conveniently available Registrar abroad; and

(b) register such marriage.

(1A) Where before the expiry of six months under paragraph (1)(a), either or both parties return to Malaysia and the marriage was not registered, such person shall:

(a) within six months of arrival in Malaysia, appear before any Registrar;

and

(b) register such marriage.

(1B) A person who applies to register a marriage under subsection (1) or (1A) shall:

(a) produce to such Registrar the certificate of such marriage or such evidence either oral or documentary as may satisfy the Registrar that such marriage took place;

(b) furnish such particulars as may be required by the Registrar for the due registration of such marriage; and

(c) apply in the prescribed form for the registration of the marriage to be affected and subscribe the declaration therein.

(2) A Registrar may dispense with the appearance of one of the parties to the marriage if he is satisfied that there exists good and sufficient reason for the absence of such party and in such case the entry in the marriage register shall include a statement of the reason for his or her absence.

(3) Upon the registration of any marriage under this section, the Registrar shall deliver the triplicate copy of the register to the parties to the marriage and the original to the Registrar General and the duplicate to the Superintendent Registrar who shall cause such copies to be bound together to constitute the Foreign Marriages Register.

(4) Where the parties to a marriage required to be registered under this section have not appeared before a Registrar within the period as prescribed in subsection (1), the marriage may, upon application to the Registrar, be registered by him on payment of such penalty as may be prescribed.

[6] In the supporting Affidavit, the Applicant has exhibited the marriage certificate, the certificate of marriage registration pursuant to s 31 of the LRA, as well as the divorce decree issued by the District Court in Indonesia. Through this application, the Applicant seeks to have the foreign divorce decree registered in Malaysia pursuant to s 107(3) of the LRA.

[7] The Applicant acknowledges that the marriage was not solemnized in accordance with the requirements stipulated under s 22 of the LRA, as referenced in s 1