AIT 1. Customary marriages in Ghana can be lawfully dissolved in accordance with the applicable customary law. Dissolutions can be registered but this is optional.
2. The onus of proving either a customary marriage or dissolution rests on the party making the assertion. It is normally for the appellant to prove that a marriage is valid. Where this involves proving that a previous customary marriage has been dissolved, it is reasonable to expect the appellant to produce the best available evidence to support this assertion.
3. As registration of the dissolution of a customary marriage is not mandatory in Ghana, an appellant does not necessarily have to produce a registration of dissolution to prove the divorce although it would be sensible to do so. In the alternative, evidence in the form of a statutory declaration or an affidavit produced by family members or other people able to confirm the dissolution of the customary tribal marriage should be produced.
[2009] UKAIT 00009
Bailii
England and Wales
Updated: 22 August 2021; Ref: scu.301892