A Compulsory Research Report Submitted to Mzumbe University – Mbeya Campus College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of the Bachelor of Law (L.L.B) of Mzumbe University
The corner stone of the research study is the doctrine of presumption of marriage under section 160 of the Law of Marriage Act, its practical implementation by the courts of law and general public understanding at large have brought about untold misconceptions, misunderstandings on the correct interpretation and implication of provision of rebuttable presumption of marriage. Since the Act came into operation in 1971, it has been proved that the presumption of marriage is a controversial issue for the following main reasons, first, it is not clearly understood on what presumption of marriage is, Secondly the controversy comes from the last word of the section that “…as if they were duly married.” and that if so, whether these couples have the same right as those married under section 25 of the Act, and lastly the controversy on the protection of the issues of the association. The study examines what the laws and practices offer to these group of children on their legal protection especially, on their status as to whether they are legitimate or not, on custody especially on the question of to whom such children belong; such that whether they belong to maternal or paternal side, and lastly, protection on terms of their maintenance so as to know who has the burden to provide maintenance to them. That’s to say this research study critically analyzes the law and practices on legal protection of these children so as to ensure that some amendments on the related provisions of laws might be made by the law reform bodies.