According to the current RA legislation, the age of marriage is 18 years old. With exceptions, a person can get married at the age of 17 and 16 as well. According to the new legislative regulation, it is proposed to set the minimum age limit for marriage at 18 years old, without exceptions, to remove all the regulations that refer to underage spouses and early marriages. This was stated by the Deputy Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, the author of the draft Rustam Bakoyan.
The package of draft laws on Making Amendments to the Family Code of the Republic of Armenia and on Making Amendments to the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia was debated in the first reading at the regular sitting of the National Assembly on June 11.
The author of the draft noted that the issue received attention in the 7th convocation Parliament, work debates and parliamentary hearings were organized with the participation of all the concerned parties and mostly positive responses were received regarding the draft. “In 2018, the number of registered marriages of minors is 18, in the case of single mothers – 151. And this indicator is maintained at almost the same pace until 2023. This means that we have a problem, and by raising the age limit for marriage, we will mostly settle the issue,” Rustam Bakoyan detailed.
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The co-rapporteur, the member of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Alkhas Ghazaryan presented the endorsement of the Head Committee regarding the legislative package. She presented the statistical indicators provided by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, according to which, out of 1319 Yazidi girls studying in public schools during the academic year of 2023-2024, 171 left the educational system in 2023 alone. It was noted that the movement of children leaving compulsory education is most evident in high schools. In defense of children, she called on her colleagues to vote for the draft.
The Deputy Minister of Justice Armenuhi Harutyunyan informed that the Government had approved the legislative initiative.
In his final speech, Rustam Bakoyan, underscoring that early marriages have a negative impact on minor women, mentioned that their rights to social protection, health care, and education are being violated from the social viewpoint.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
