NAIROBI, Kenya — The Court of Appeal has declared Section 66(1) and (2) of the Marriage Act 2014 unconstitutional, effectively removing the three-year mandatory waiting period before couples in civil marriages could file for divorce.
The decision, delivered by a three-judge bench, allows individuals to petition for divorce immediately after marriage, even on the same day, if circumstances justify it.
Previously, the law required couples to remain married for at least three years, regardless of abuse, adultery, or violence — a rule family lawyers say forced victims to endure toxic unions.
Family law expert Danstan Omari welcomed the ruling, noting that it will help reduce cases of domestic violence and femicide.
“You don’t have to die in a marriage; you don’t have to kill or be killed. The law now allows you to walk into court and dissolve the marriage immediately,” he said on Court Helicopter News.
Read further: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/kehc/2020/7562/eng@2020-03-10
Omari added that the decision offers relief to both men and women in abusive or irretrievably broken marriages, giving them the freedom to seek justice without delay.
The ruling, first issued in June 2022, gave the Attorney General three years to amend the law. That grace period expired in June 2025, making the appellate judgment fully enforceable.
Under the new framework, couples can now marry and seek divorce without a time restriction, though the grounds for dissolution — including adultery, cruelty, desertion, and irretrievable breakdown — remain unchanged under Section 66(2).
Legal practitioners say the move marks a milestone in Kenya’s family law, restoring dignity and protection to individuals trapped in unsafe or unhappy marriages.
As Omari summed it up: “If the marriage does not work, walk to court and dissolve it. There is no time limit anymore.”