1 The family law: the concept, the subject, chief principles and method of regulation.

The civil law is the branch of law, representing system of norms, regulating the personal non-property and property relations between the family members and in the cases and within the limits stipulated by the family legislation, between other relatives and other persons.

The subject of the family low is five groups of relations:

• the terms and the procedure for entering into a marriage, for the termination of the

marriage and for recognizing it as invalid;

• establishes the rights and duties of the family members: the spouses, the parents and the

children (the adopters and the adoptees), and in the cases and within the limits stipulated by the family legislation, between other relatives and other persons;

• define the forms and procedure for placing children left without parental care into a family;

• regulates an order of the state civil registration;

• defines functions of the state bodies which are carrying out the state civil registration

As to a family-law method, it is characterized by a number of specific features:

• equality of the participants of family - law relations;

• autonomy of will of participants of family legal relationship;

• strengthening of the facultative fundamentals in family-and-legal regulation;

• individual situational regulation.

Chief principles of the family legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

• the voluntary conjugal union between a man and a woman;

• the equality of spouses' rights in the family;

• the inadmissibly of anybody's arbitrary interference into the family affairs;

• the resolving internal family problems by mutual consent;

• the priority of bringing children up in a family, of taking care of their well-being and development;

• the priority protection of the rights and interests of minors and disabled family members;

• the necessity to freely exercise the family rights, the guarantee of their protection in the court;

• the support of a healthy lifestyle of all family members.

2 The terms and procedure for entering into a marriage. Termination of the marriage

A marriage shall be entered into at registry offices. The rights and duties of spouses shall arise as from the date of official registration of their entering into a marriage at registry offices.

Procedure for Entering into a Marriage

A marriage shall be concluded in the presence of the persons entering into the marriage, after the expiry of one month from the date of their filing an application with the registry offices.

If there are valid reasons for doing this, the registry office may permit the conclusion of a marriage before the expiry of one month, and may also extend this term, but not by more than one month.

In case of the existence of some specific circumstances (such as pregnancy, the birth of a child, a direct threat to the life of one of the parties, or other circumstances), a marriage may be entered into on the date of filing the application.

The state registration of entering into a marriage shall be effected in conformity with the procedure, laid down for the state registration of civil status acts.

The refusal of the registry office to register a marriage may be appealed against in court by the persons who wish to enter into a marriage (by one of them).

The Terms for Entering into a Marriage

To enter into a marriage, the voluntary consent of the man and of the woman entering into it, and their reaching the marriageable age, shall be necessary.

The marriage shall not be entered into in the face of the circumstances pointed out in the Family Code.

The marriageable age shall be established as eighteen years.

In the presence of valid reasons, the bodies of local government at the residence of persons wishing to enter into a marriage may, at the request of such persons, permit entering into a marriage to persons who have reached the age of sixteen years.

The procedure and the terms because of whose existence a marriage may be entered into by way of an exception, with account for specific circumstances, before reaching the age of sixteen years.

Circumstances Preventing Entering into a Marriage

Not to be admitted shall be entering into a marriage by:

- persons one of whom at least already consists in another registered marriage;

- close relations (relations by the direct ascending and descending lines - by the

parents and children, by the grandfather, the grandmother and the grandchildren), by full

and by not full (having a common father or a mother) brothers and sisters);

- adopters and the adoptees;

- persons at least one of whom is recognized by court as legally incapable because of

mental derangement.

Grounds for Terminating a Marriage

A marriage shall be terminated as a consequence of the death of one of the spouses, or as a consequence of the court declaring one of the spouses dead.

A marriage may be terminated by its dissolution upon the application of one or both spouses, and also upon the application of the guardian of the spouse recognized by the court as legally incapable.

The marriage dissolved at the registry offices shall be terminated as from the date of the state registration of the dissolution of the marriage in the Register of Civil Status Acts, and if the marriage is dissolved in court - as from the date of the court decision coming into legal force.