The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022, which went into force in England and Wales, has been the main topic of recent legal news. Before, the law said that anyone in England and Wales who was 16 or 17 years old might be married as long as their parents approved. The 2022 Act eliminates this exemption and stipulates that there are no exceptions to the minimum marriage age of 18. The UK government regards the legislation—which was backed by advocacy groups including Girls Not Brides Coalition and was presented as a private member’s bill by Pauline Latham OBE MP—as a critical first step towards better safeguarding vulnerable youth from forced marriages.

How does it stand in Scotland?

For a long while now, 16 has been the legal age of marriage in Scotland. According to the Marriages (Scotland) Act 1977, an individual must be 16 years of age or older to be entitled to get married.

The reason for the change

The Scottish government has frequently been urged to improve child protection and raise the legal age of marriage to 18 in Scotland. Research demonstrates that child weddings can have detrimental effects, such as an increased statistical risk of domestic violence and mental health issues, worse educational achievement, and lesser economic opportunity. This is why proponents of raising the legal age of marriage point to this data. They contend that under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children are those who are under the age of eighteen and that Scotland is legally obligated to defend their rights. The UNCRC asserts that all children generally have the right to be safeguarded from all forms of exploitation and abuse, even though it does not specifically address the topic of forced marriage. According to the United Nations, “child marriage” should be abhorred and outlawed, and countries have been urged to do so by 2030. Law reform proponents contend that Scotland is falling behind other nations in adopting the globally accepted concept of a child.

Is the change that necessary?

Opposition to the law argues that since Scotland already has strong rules prohibiting forced and coerced marriages, raising the legal age of marriage is unnecessary. Included in this are clauses from the Forced Marriage etc. (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Act 2011 that permit the granting of Forced Marriage Protection Orders in situations where a young person may be coerced into marriage. Additionally, it is suggested that increasing Scotland’s legal marriage age to 18 will “infantilise” youth and violate their freedom to make responsible decisions. They also note that it can affect young individuals who want to get married for religious or cultural reasons. Furthermore, some worries raising the marriage age alone could result in legally debatable inconsistencies. For instance, if the age of permission for sexual activity was raised to 16 while the age of consent to marry was raised to 18, this could generate problems. Some contend that increasing the legal age of consent to marry may have unforeseen implications, such as a rise in cohabitation or unofficial unions that lack the legal protections of marriage.

Is reform likely?

The Scottish government said that before taking any action to introduce or support legislation raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18, a thorough public consultation would be necessary in response to questions posed in the Scottish Parliament in June 2021. It is unclear whether the Scottish government intends to consult on change as there has been no consultation to yet.