UCC - Goa & the Portuguese Civil Code Common family law

Goa the Portuguese Civil Code Common family law

Goa is the only Indian state to have a UCC in the form of common family law. The Portuguese Civil Code that remains in force even today was introduced in the 19th century in Goa and wasn’t replaced after its liberation.

Does the Goa Civil Code allow polygamy?

The Goa Civil Code enables a particular type of polygamy for Hindus but does not extend the Shariat Act to Muslims living in Goa, who are instead subject to both Portuguese law and Shastric Hindu law.

Goa is the only state with a Uniform Civil Code. Here’s what it looks like

The 156-year-old, 647-page code cuts across religions and has laws that govern everything from gender equality in marriage to personal inheritance. Amid talk of a UCC for the country, the Goa code is being touted as a model. But how uniform is Goa’s Uniform Civil Code?

Written by Apurva Vishwanath 

Panaji | Updated: August 18, 2023 01:54 IST

Goa uniform civil code

When it was time to decide his mother’s share of the inheritance, FE Noronha, a lawyer, was asked to produce her dowry certificate. Under Portuguese laws, spouses are entitled to joint ownership of all properties held by each other. (Express photo by Apurva Vishwanath)

It was a strange demand. F E Noronha had got a call from the Cabeca de Casal, an administrator appointed to make an inventory of assets for partition in his maternal family, asking for his mother’s dowry certificate. Noronha’s parents married nearly six decades ago and his mother died a few years ago. But the certificate was crucial to decide his mother’s inheritance, which his father would share in half.

“Birth, marriage, death and succession — everyone does the same paperwork… it is recorded and registered. So, we found the tattered piece of paper. My mother came from a rich family but my father was a good man and never cared much about that. But she has an equal share in her family property and under our law, my father is entitled to half of whatever she would get. When someone dies, they start carefully counting the heirs,” Noronha, 70, said.

With the matter of a Uniform Civil Code likely to be kept alive in the run-up to the 2024 elections – even if, as The Indian Express earlier reported, the BJP-led government is unlikely to push it through in its current term – the crucial question is what form and shape the proposed law would take.