Muslim Marriage and Divorce (Amendment) Act 2013

This Act may be cited as the Muslim Marriage and

Divorce (Amendment) Act, No. 24 of 2013 and shall be deemed to have come into operation on January 1, 2013.

Section 18 of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act

(Chapter 115) (hereinafter referred to as the “principal enactment”) is hereby amended by the repeal of subsection (3) of that section and the substitution therefor of the following subsection:—

“(3) The prescribed fee shall be paid by the bridegroom.”.

Section 94 of the principal enactment is hereby amended in paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of that section by the substitution, for the words “ the stamp fee to be paid on a certified copy”, of the words “ the fee to be paid on a certified copy”.

Any fees charged or collected by or on behalf of the

Registrar-General or any person authorised under this Act, for any purpose authorized by this Act to charge or collect, during the period commencing on January 1, 2013 and ending on the date on which the certificate of the speaker is endorsed in respect of this Act, shall be deemed to have been validly charged or collected by the Registrar-General or by any such person authorised under this Act:

Provided that, the aforesaid provisions shall not affect any decision or Order made by any Court or any proceedings pending in any Court in respect of any fee charged or collected during the aforesaid period.

In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.