A marriage under this Act may be solemnized only by a Registrar.

Any marriage purported to be solemnized in Malaysia shall be void if at the date of the marriage either party is under the age of eighteen years unless, for a female who has completed her sixteenth year, the solemnization of such marriage was authorized by a licence granted by the Chief Minister under subsection 21(2).

(1) No person shall marry his or her grandparent, parent, child or grandchild, sister or brother, great-aunt or great-uncle, aunt or uncle, niece or nephew, great-niece or great-nephew, as the case may be:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prohibit any person who is a Hindu from marrying under Hindu law or custom his sister's daughter (niece) or her mothers's brother (uncle).

(2) No person shall marry the grandparent or parent, child or grandchild of his or her spouse or former spouse.

(3) No person shall marry the former spouse of his or her grandparent or parent, child or grandchild.

(4) No person shall marry a person whom he or she has adopted or by whom he or she has been adopted.

(5) For the purposes of this section, relationship of the half blood is as much an impediment as relationship of the full blood and it is immaterial whether a person was born legitimate or illegitimate.

(6) The Chief Minister may in his discretion, notwithstanding this section, grant a licence under this section for a marriage to be solemnized if he is satisfied that such marriage is unobjectionable under the law, religion, custom or usage applicable to the parties thereto and, where such marriage is solemnized under such licence, such marriage shall be deemed to be valid.

(1) A person who has not completed his or her twenty-first year shall, notwithstanding that he or she shall have attained the age of majority as prescribed by the Age of Majority Act 1971 [Act 21], nevertheless be required, before marrying, to obtain the consent in writing-

(a) of his or her father;

(b) if the person is illegitimate or his or her father is dead, of his or her mother;

(c) if the person is an adopted child, of his or her adopted father, or if the adopted father is dead, of his or her adopted mother; or

(d) if both his or her parents (natural or adopted) are dead, of the person standing in loco parentis to him or her before he or she attains that age,

but in any other case no consent shall be required.

(2) Where the court is satisfied that the consent of any person to a proposed marriage is being withheld unreasonably or all those persons who could give consent under subsection (1) are dead or that it is impracticable to obtain such consent, the court may, on application, give consent and such consent shall have the same effect as if it had been given by the person whose consent was required by subsection (1).

(3) An application to the High Court under this section shall be made to a Judge in chambers.

(4) When an application is made to the High Court in consequence of a refusal to give consent, notice of the application shall be served upon the person who refused to give consent.

(5) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Part consent to the marriage of a minor shall not be necessary if the minor has been previously married.

(6) There shall be no appeal from an order of a Judge under this section.

Sections 14 to 20 inclusive shall not apply to parties to a marriage to be solemnized in accordance with section 24.

Whenever any person desire to marry in Malaysia each of the parties to the intended marriage shall sign and give a notice in the prescribed form in person to the Registrar of the marriage district in which such party has been resident for the period of seven days immediately preceding the giving of such notice:

Provided that when both the parties have been resident for the required period in the same marriage district only one such notice need be given by them.

Upon receipt of such notice, the Registrar shall cause such notice to be published by posting a copy in a conspicuous place in his office visible to the public and shall keep the same so posted up until he grants his certificate under section 17 or until three months have elapsed, whichever is the earlier.

(1) Every notice required to be given under section 14 shall be accompanied by a written declaration-

(a) that one or both the parties to the intended marriage has been resident in the marriage district for the period of seven days immediately preceding the giving of such notice;

(b) either-

(i) that each of the parties is twenty-one years of age or over, or, if not, is a widower or widow, as the case may be; or

(ii) if either party is a minor who has not been previously married and the female party not under the age of sixteen years, that the consent of the appropriate person mentioned in section 12 has been given in writing, or has been dispensed with, or has been given by a court in accordance with the provisions of section 12;

(c) that there is no lawful impediment to the marriage; and

(d) that neither of the parties to the intended marriage is married under any law, religion, custom or usage to any person other than the person with whom such marriage is proposed to be contracted.

(2) Every such declaration shall be in writing in the prescribed form and shall be made by the person giving such notice in the presence of the Registrar who shall attest the same; if such person does not understand Bahasa Malaysia, the Registrar shall ascertain whether such person is cognisant of the purport of the declaration and, if not shall translate or cause to be translated in his presence the declaration to such person into the language which he understands and shall certify on the declaration that such translation has been duly made or is not required as the case may be.

The Registrar, on being satisfied that the declaration complied with the requirements stated in section 16, shall at any time after the expiration of twenty-one days from the date of publication of the notice under section 15 and upon payment to him of the prescribed fee, issue his certificate for marriage in the prescribed form.

Subject to section 20, if the marriage does not take place within six months after the date of publication of the notice, the notice and all proceedings consequent thereon shall be void and fresh notice shall be given before the parties can lawfully marry.