The Goa Civil Code, also called the Goa Family Law, is the set of civil

laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

that governs the residents of the Indian state of

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. The Goan civil code was introduced after

Portuguese Goa and Damaon The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

were elevated from being mere Portuguese colonies to the status of a ''

Província Ultramarina Overseas province ( pt, província ultramarina) was a designation used by Portugal for its overseas possessions, located outside Europe. History In the early the 19th century, Portuguese overseas territories were referred to as "overseas domini ...

'' (

Overseas possession A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

) in 1869 AD. The Goan civil code is a Indianised variant of

Portuguese legal system The Law of Portugal is the legal system that applies to Portugal. It is part of the family of the civil law legal systems, based on Roman law. As such, it has many common features with the legal systems found in most of the countries in Continen ...

that draws largely from Code Napoleon, a common legal system in a number of

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

an nations, Indian law mostly derives from English common law that was formulated and applied in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, and remains pegged to developments in the "Charter of the British Commonwealth". With a number of amendments, post the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, Indian laws as a whole, have religion-specific civil codes that separately govern adherents of different religions; (like the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and Hindu personal laws,) and also has

caste reservation Reservation is a system of affirmative action in India that provides historically disadvantaged groups representation in education, employment, government schemes, scholarships and politics. Based on provisions in the Indian Constitution, it a ...

s. Goa and Damaon are an exception to that rule, in that a single code governs all the native Goans and the native Damanese of

Damaon, Diu& Silvassa Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is a union territory in India. The territory was constituted through the merger of the former territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Plans for the proposed merger were announced by the ...

, irrespective of affiliation to

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

social strata Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As ...

The English translation of the civil code
is available on the Government of Goa'
e-Gazette
dated 19/10/2018.

History

The Goa civil code is largely based on the Portuguese Civil Code (''Código Civil Português'') of 1867, which was introduced in Goa in 1870 (by a Decree of 18 November 1869, the Civil Code of 1867 was extended to the Overseas Provinces of Portugal ). Later, the code saw some modifications, based on: * the Portuguese Gentile Hindu Usages Decrees of 1880 (''Código de usos e costumes dos hindus gentios de Goa'') * the Portuguese Decrees on Marriage and Divorce of 1910 (''Lei do Divórcio: Decreto de 3 de Novembro de 1910''). After the establishment of the First Portuguese Republic, the civil code was liberalized to give women more freedom. * the Portuguese Decrees on Canonical Marriages of 1946 (''Decreto 35.461: regula o casamento nas colónias portuguesas'') The civil code was retained in Goa after its

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

with the Indian Union in 1961, although in Portugal, the original Code was replaced by the new

Portuguese Civil Code The current Portuguese Civil Code ( pt, Código Civil) was approved on 26 November 1966 and entered into force on 1 June 1967. It replaced the previous Portuguese Civil Code of 1868. Its text was prepared by a Commission of Professors of Law which ...

of 1966. In 1981, the Government of India appointed a Personal Law Committee to determine if the non-uniform laws of the Union could be extended to Goa. The Goa Muslim

Shariah Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

Organization supported the move, but it was met with stiff resistance from the Muslim Youth Welfare Association and the Goa Muslim Women's Associations.

Differences with the Indian law

Some ways in which the Goa Civil Code is different from other Indian laws include: * A married couple jointly holds ownership of all the assets owned (before the

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

) or acquired (after the marriage) by each spouse. In case of a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, each spouse is entitled to a half share of the assets. However, the law also allows

antenuptial agreement A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the leg ...

s, which may state a different division of assets in case of a divorce. These agreements also allow the spouses to hold the assets acquired before marriage separately. Such agreements cannot be changed or revoked. A married person cannot sell the property without the consent of his/her spouse. * The parents cannot

disinherit Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially ...

their children entirely. At least half of their property has to be passed on to the children compulsorily. This inherited property must be shared equally among the children. *

men, who have their marriages registered in Goa, cannot practice

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

. Also, there is no provision for a verbal divorce.

Uniformity

The Goa Civil Code is not strictly a

uniform civil code The Uniform Civil Code (Hindi: समान नागरिक संहिता, IAST: Samāna Nāgarika Saṃhitā) is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply on all citizens equally regardless ...

, as it has specific provisions for certain communities. For example: * The

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

men have the right to

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

under specific circumstances mentioned in ''Codes of Usages and Customs of Gentile Hindus of Goa'' (if the wife fails to deliver a child by the age of 25, or if she fails to deliver a male child by the age of 30). For other communities, the law prohibits bigamy. * The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

s can solemnize their marriages in church after obtaining a No Objection Certificate from the Civil Registrar. For others, only a civil registration of the marriage is accepted as a proof of marriage. The Catholics marrying in the church are excluded from divorce provisions under the civil law. * For Hindus, divorce is permitted only on the grounds of

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

by the wife. * The law has inequalities in case of

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

and illegitimate children.

References

{{Goa topics Government of Goa Indian family law Social history of Goa Civil codes