The Goa Civil Code

The Goa Civil Code

News: Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant recently said that the Goa civil code can be a model that other states can emulate. This statement comes amid the ongoing discussions for having a Uniform Civil Code for India.

What is Goa Civil Code?
• In 1867, Portugal enacted a Portuguese civil code and in 1869 it was extended to Portugal’s overseas provinces (that included Goa). It is considered a Uniform Civil Code.
• While when it comes to marriage and adoption, there is not complete uniformity, generally the Goa Civil Code is far more gender-just than other laws in the country.
• The law also doesn’t recognise bigamy or polygamy, including for Muslims but grants an exception to a Hindu man to marry once again if his wife doesn’t conceive a child by the age of 21 or a male child by the age of 30.
• It provides for compulsory registration of marriages before a civil authority, ensuring that the wife is an equal inheritor and is entitled to half of the ‘common assets’ including those inherited by her husband in the case of a divorce.
• The parents must compulsorily share at least half of the property with their children including daughters.

About UCC:
• UCC essentially refers to a common set of laws governing personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession for all citizens of the country.
• Article 44 of the Constitution, which is one of the Directive Principles of State Policy, also advocates a uniform civil code.
• However, governments since Independence have allowed respective religion-based civil codes to respect the diversity of India.