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	DECISION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS ON AMENDING THE MARRIAGE LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

	(Order of the President of the People's Republic of China (No. 51), April 28, 2001: The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on April 28, 2001. It is hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of the promulgation date. )


SUBJECT : MARRIAGE LAW; AMENDMENTS
ISSUING DEPARTMENT : THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
ISSUE DATE : 04/28/2001
IMPLEMENT DATE : 04/28/2001
LENGTH : 2,922 words
TEXT :

It is decided at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress to amend the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China as follows:

1. Paragraph 2 of Article 3 shall be revised as: "Bigamy shall be prohibited. No one who has a spouse may cohabit with any other person. Familial violence shall be prohibited. Maltreatment or desertion of any family member shall be prohibited."

2. One article shall be inserted as Article 4: "Husband and wife shall be loyal to and respect each other. Family members shall respect the old, take good care of the young, and help each other so as to maintain an equal, harmonious and cultured matrimonial and familial relationship."

3. Article 6 shall be changed into Article 7. Item (2) shall be revised as: "if either the man or the woman is suffering from any disease that is regarded by medical science as being unfit for marriage."

4. Article 7 shall be changed into Article 8 and shall be revised as: "The man and woman who apply for marriage shall go to the marriage registration authority in person to get registered. If they meet the requirements of this law, they shall be registered and be given a certificate of marriage. The obtaining of a certificate of marriage means the establishment of the relationship of husband and wife. Those who live as husband and wife without registration shall go through remedial registration procedures."

5. Article 8 shall be changed into Article 9 and shall be revised as: "Having gone through the registration procedures, the woman may become a member of the family of the man and the man may also become a member of the family of the woman, whatever is agreed upon by both parties."

6. One article shall be inserted as Article 10: "If any of the following circumstances occurs, the marriage shall be invalid:

(1) if either party is a bigamist;

(2) if both parties are in the kinship that is forbidden from getting married by law;

(3) if any party has suffered from any disease that is held by medical science as being unfit for getting married and the disease has not been cured after marriage; or

(4) if any party has not come up to the legitimate age for marriage."

7. One article shall be inserted as Article 11: "In the case of intimidated marriage, the intimidated party may apply to the marriage registration authority or the people's court for canceling the said marriage. The intimidated party shall make the application within one year since the day of marriage registration. Where any party who is unlawfully confined in personal freedom applies for canceling a marriage, he or she shall make the application within one year since the day he or she resumes personal freedom."

8. One article shall be inserted as Article 12: "An invalid or cancelled marriage shall be invalid ab initio, and the parties concerned do not have the rights and obligations of the husband and wife. The property incurred during the term of cohabitation shall be disposed of by both parties upon agreement. Where no agreement is achieved, the people's court shall make a judgment according to the principle of favoring the innocent party. The property rights of the party to a lawful marriage shall not be infringed upon in the disposal of the property relating to a marriage invalidated by bigamy. The relevant provisions of this law concerning parents and children shall apply to the children borne by both parties concerned."

9. Article 13 shall be changed into Article 17. Paragraph 1 shall be revised as: "The following properties incurred during the existence of marriage shall be jointly owned by both husband and wife:

(1) wages and bonuses;

(2) any income incurred from production or management;

(3) any income incurred from intellectual property;

(4) any property inherited or bestowed, with the exception of those as mentioned in Article 18 (3) of this law;

(5) other property that shall be jointly owned."

10. One article shall be inserted as Article 18: "The following property shall be owned by either the husband or the wife:

(1) the pre-marital property that is owned by one party;

(2) the payment for medical treatment or living subsidies for the disabled arising from bodily injury on either party;

(3) Property clearly determined in a will or contract of gift to be owned by either party;

(4) the articles of living specially used by either party;

(5) other property that shall be used by either party."

11. One article shall be inserted as Article 19: "Husband and wife may come to an agreement whether the property incurred during the existence of marriage or prior to marriage to be owned by each party, to be jointly owned or partially owned by each party and partially owned by both parties. The agreement shall be made in written form. Where there is no such agreement or it is not explicitly agreed upon, the provisions of articles 17 and 18 shall apply.

The agreement concerning the property obtained during the existence of marriage and pre-marital property shall be binding upon both parties.

Where husband and wife agree to individually own their property, the debt of either the husband or the wife shall be cleared off by the individual property of the debtor if the creditor has the knowledge of the said agreement."

12. Article 15 shall be changed into Article 21. Paragraph 4 shall be revised as: "It shall be forbidden to drown or desert infants or commit any other act of killing infants."

13. Article 16 shall be changed into Article 22 and shall be revised as: "A child may take the surname of either the father or mother."

14. Article 17 shall be changed into Article 23 and shall be revised as: "Parents shall have the rights and obligations of protecting and educating their children. Where the underage child causes any damage to the state, collective or other person, the parents thereof shall take civil liabilities."

15. Article 19 shall be changed into Article 25. Paragraph 2 shall be revised as: "The natural father or mother that does not directly bring up his or her natural child shall undertake the expenses for the living and education of the natural child until the child is able to live an independent life."

16. Article 22 shall be changed into Article 28 and shall be revised as: "Capable grandparents and maternal grandparents shall be under the obligation of bringing up the grandchildren and maternal grandchildren whose parents have deceased or are incapable of bringing up their underage children. Capable grandchildren and maternal grandchildren shall be under the obligation of supporting the grandparents and maternal grandparents whose children have deceased or whose children are incapable of supporting them."

17. Article 23 shall be changed into Article 29 and shall be revised as: "Capable elder brothers and sisters shall be under the obligation of supporting their younger brothers and sisters whose parents have deceased or whose parents are incapable of supporting them. The younger brothers and sisters who have been brought up by the elder brothers and sisters shall be under the obligation of supporting their elder brothers and sisters who are without labor capabilities and without sources of living aliments."

18. One article shall be inserted as Article 30: "Children shall respect the matrimonial rights of their parents and shall not interfere with the digamy and post-digamous life of their parents. The obligation of the children to support their parents does not terminate as a result of the change of matrimonial relationship of their parents."

19. Article 24 shall be changed into Article 31 and shall be revised as: "Divorce shall be allowed if both husband and wife are willing to divorce. Both parties shall apply to the marriage registration authority for divorce. The marriage registration authority issues a certificate of divorce after confirming that both parties are indeed willing to divorce and have made proper arrangements for their children and have properly disposed of their property."

20. Article 25 shall be changed into Article 32. Two paragraphs shall be inserted as Paragraphs 3 and 4: "Divorce shall be granted if any of the following circumstances occurs and mediation fails:

(1) either party is a bigamist or a person who has a spouse but co-habits with another person;

(2) there is family violence or maltreatment or desertion of any family member;

(3) either party is indulged in gambling, drug-abuse or has other vicious habits and refuses to mend his or her ways despite of repeated admonition;

(4) both parties have lived separately due to lack of mutual affection for up to two years;

(5) other circumstances that have led to the nonexistence of mutual affection as husband and wife.

If either party has been declared by court as to be missing and the other party applies to be divorced, divorce shall be approved."

21. Article 26 shall be changed into Article 33 and shall be revised as: "The application of the spouse of a soldier in active service for divorce shall be subject to the approval of the soldier unless the soldier commits any grave fault."

22. Article 27 shall be changed into Article 34 and shall be revised as: "The husband may not apply for divorce when his wife is pregnant or within one year after giving birth to a child or within six months after terminating gestation. This restriction shall not apply to the case where the wife applies for divorce or the people's court deems it necessary to accept the application of the husband for divorce."

23. Article 29 shall be changed into Article 35 and shall be revised as: "If, after divorce, both parties desire to resume their husband-and-wife relationship, they shall go through the registration procedures at the marriage registration authority."

24. Article 29 shall be changed into Article 36. Paragraph 1 shall be revised as: "The relationship between parents and children does not terminate due to the divorce of parents. After the divorce of the parents, the children remain the children of both parties no matter they are supported directly by either the father or mother."

25. One article shall be inserted as Article 38: "After divorce, the parent that does not directly bring up the children has the right to visit the children, and the other party has the obligation to give assistance.

The way and time for exercising the right of visiting children shall be agreed upon by the parties concerned. In case no agreement is achieved, they shall be decided by the people's court.

If the visit of either the father or mother is harmful to the soundness of the body and mind of the children, the said right shall be terminated by the people's court. When the reasons for terminating the said right disappear, the right shall be resumed."

26. Article 31 shall be changed into Article 39 and shall be revised as: "At the time of divorce, both husband and wife shall agree upon the disposal of the jointly owned property; if they fail to come to any agreement, the people's court shall decide the disposal thereof, taking into consideration the actual circumstances of the property and following the principle of favoring the children and the wife."

A paragraph shall be inserted as Paragraph 2: "The rights and interests that both husband and wife enjoy in the contracted management of land shall be protected by law."

27. A paragraph shall be inserted as Article 40: "Where both husband and wife agree to separately own the property they respectively obtain during the existence of their marriage and either of them has spent considerably more effort on supporting children, taking care of the old or assisting the other party in work, etc, this party shall be entitled to demand the other party to make compensations at the time of divorce, and the requested party shall make compensations."

28. Article 32 shall be changed into Article 41 and shall be revised as: "At the time of divorce, the debts jointly incurred by both husband and wife for the common life shall be paid out of the jointly owned property. If the jointly owned property is not enough to pay off the debts or if the property is individually owned, both parties shall agree upon the payment of the debts. If both parties fail to reach any agreement, the people's court shall decide on the payment of the debts."

29. Article 33 shall be changed into Article 42 and shall be revised as: "If, at the time of divorce, either party has difficulties in life, the other party shall render appropriate assistance from his or her personal property like house, etc. Specific arrangements shall be agreed upon by both parties. In case no agreement is agreed upon, the people's court shall make a decision."

30. One chapter "Remedies and Legal Liabilities: shall be inserted as Chapter V. Six articles shall be inserted as Articles 43 through 47 and Article 49:

(1) Article 43: "In the case of familial violence or maltreatment of any family member, the victim thereof shall be entitled to make petitions, and the villagers' committees, the relevant urban residents' committee, villagers' committee or the entity where the victim is a staff member shall make dissuasions or mediations.

The victim shall be entitled to make petitions concerning the familial violence that is happening, and the relevant urban residents' committee or villagers' committee shall make dissuasions, and the public security organs shall stop such acts.

Where the victim of family violence or maltreatment makes a petition, the public security organ concerned shall give administrative punishment to the actor according to the provisions on the administration of public security."

(2) Article 44: "Any member deserted by his or her family shall be entitled to make petitions, and the relevant urban residents' committee, villagers' committee or the entity where the victim is a staff member shall make dissuasions or mediations.

Where any person deserted by his or her family makes a petition, the people's court shall make a judgment concerning the payment of expenses for upbringing, supporting and maintenance."

(3) Article 45: "Criminal liabilities shall be meted out to bigamists and those who has committed familial violence or maltreated or deserted any family member so seriously as to have constituted a crime. The victim may file a private prosecution at the people's court according to the provisions of the criminal procedure law; the relevant public security organ shall make investigations and the people's procuratorate concerned shall make a public prosecution according to the provisions of law."

(4) Article 46: "In any of the following circumstances which has led to the divorce of husband and wife, the innocent party shall be entitled to claim damages:
1. bigamy;
2. cohabitation between a person who has a spouse but co-habitats with a third person;
3. familial violence;
4. maltreating or deserting any family member."

(5) Article 47: "If, at the time of divorce, any party conceals, transfers, sells or destroys the property jointly owned by both husband and wife, or fabricates any debt in an effort to seize the property of the other party, the person who conceals, transfers, sells or destroys any of the jointly owned property or fabricates any debt may, in the partition of jointly owned property, have a smaller or even no share. If any party discovers any of the afore-mentioned acts after divorce, he or she may file a suit at the people's court to apply for repartitioning the jointly owned property.

The people's court concerned may punish any of the acts that hampers the civil litigation concerning the afore-mentioned acts according to the civil procedure law."

(6) Article 49: "Where there are different provisions in other laws concerning the illegal acts and legal liabilities in the area of marriage or family, such provisions shall be followed."

31. Article 34 shall be deleted.

32. Article 35 shall be changed into Article 48 and shall be revised as: "In case any person refuses to execute the judgment or decision on the payment of expenses for upbringing, supporting or maintenance, the partitioning or inheritance of property or visiting the children, the execution may be enforced by the people's court in accordance with the law. Relevant persons and entities shall be responsible for giving assistance to the enforcement."

33. Article 36 shall be changed into Article 50 and shall be revised as: "The people's congresses of the autonomous regions and the standing committees thereof are empowered to formulate adaptations according to the specific conditions of the marriage and family of the ethnic group of the local place. The adaptations formulated by the autonomous prefectures and counties become effective after being ratified by the standing committee of the people's congress of the corresponding province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government. The adaptations formulated by the autonomous regions become effective after being ratified by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress."

This Decision shall come into force as of the promulgation date.

The Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China shall be re-promulgated after the amendments have been made and the sequential numbers of the articles shall be adjusted according to this Decision.