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Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages

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Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages
Drafted7 November 1962
Effective9 December 1964
Condition90 days after the 8th ratification
Signatories16
Parties55
LanguagesEnglish, French, Chinese, Russian, Spanish
Full text
Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages at Wikisource
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The Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages is a treaty agreed upon in the United Nations on the standards of marriage. The treaty was drafted by the Commission on the Status of Women and opened for signature and ratification by General Assembly resolution 1763 A (XVII) on 7 November 1962. It was entered into force 9 December 1964 by exchange of letters, in accordance with article 6. The convention has been signed by 16 countries and there are 55 parties to the convention.[1] The convention is based on article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[1] The Convention reaffirms the consensual nature of marriages and requires the parties to establish a minimum marriage age by law and to ensure the registration of marriages.[2]

History

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The idea for the convention first developed during the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery adopted by a Conference of Plenipotentiaries in 1956.[3] This 1956 convention included articles which asserted that underage and forced marriage was a form of slavery. Within article 1 of the convention, certain types of marriage were classified as slavery. The convention stated that institutions or practices that included forced marriage for payment, the transfer of a woman from her marriage/marriage family to transfer her for value, the transfer of a woman upon the death of the husband.[3]

In 1957, the Commission on the Status of Women requested the Economic and Social Council to work on the convention.[4] The draft articles, comments, and revised text were requested by the Commission in its twelfth session in 1958. The Commission on the Status of Women requested the Secretary-General to draft a convention and a recommendation on this issues.[4]

Summary of Articles

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Article 1: Marriages should be entered into with the "full and free consent" of both parties.

Article 2: States participating in the convention shall set laws for the minimum age of marriage.

Article 3: Marriages should be registered by the relevant authority.

Article 4: The convention was open for signature until 31 December 1963 and is subject to ratification.

Article 5: The convention is open for accession for all states referred to in Article 4.

Article 6: This article details the date of accession for all states that are part of the Convention

Article 7: This articles outlines the process of denunciation of the Convention

Article 8: Disputes regarding interpretation or application should be referred to the International Court of Justice.

Article 9: The Secretary-General shall notify relevant parties of signatures, instruments, date that the Convention enters into force, notifications of denunciation, and abrogation.

Article 10: The convention is published in several languages and is deposited in the archives of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall transmit a copy to relevant parties.[5]

List of signatories and parties

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Participant Signature Ratification, accession, succession
Antigua and Barbuda 25 Oct 1988
Argentina 26 Feb 1970
Austria 1 Oct 1969
Azerbaijan 16 Aug 1996
Bangladesh 5 Oct 1998
Barbados 1 Oct 1979
Benin 19 Oct 1965
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 Sep 1993
Brazil 11 Feb 1970
Burkina Faso 8 Dec 1964
Chile 10 Dec 1962
Côte d'Ivoire 18 Dec 1995
Croatia 12 Oct 1992
Canada 23 Mar 1991
Cuba 17 Oct 1963 20 Aug 1965
Cyprus 30 Jul 2002
Czech Republic 22 Feb 1993
Denmark 31 Oct 1963 8 Sep 1964
Dominican Republic 8 Oct 1964
Fiji 19 Jul 1971
Finland 18 Aug 1964
France 10 Dec 1962 14 Oct 2010
Germany 9 Jul 1969
Greece 3 Jan 1963
Guatemala 18 Jan 1983
Guinea 10 Dec 1962 24 Jan 1978
Hungary 5 Nov 1975
Iceland 18 Oct 1977
Israel 10 Dec 1962
Italy 20 Dec 1963
Jordan 1 Jul 1992
Kyrgyzstan 10 Feb 1997
Liberia 16 Sep 2005
Libya 6 Sep 2005
Macedonia 18 Jan 1994
Mali 19 Aug 1964
Mexico 22 Feb 1983
Mongolia 6 Jun 1991
Montenegro 23 Oct 2006
Netherlands 10 Dec 1962 2 Jul 1965
New Zealand 23 Dec 1963 12 Jun 1964
Niger 1 Dec 1964
Norway 10 Sep 1964
Philippines 5 Feb 1963 21 Jan 1965
Poland 17 Dec 1962 8 Jan 1965
Romania 27 Dec 1963 21 Jan 1993
Rwanda 26 Sep 2003
Samoa 24 Aug 1964
Serbia 12 Mar 2001
Slovakia 28 May 1993
South Africa 29 Jan 1993
Spain 15 Apr 1969
Sri Lanka 12 Dec 1962
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 27 Apr 1999
Sweden 10 Dec 1962 16 Jun 1964
Trinidad and Tobago 2 Oct 1969
Tunisia 24 Jan 1968
United Kingdom 9 Jul 1970
United States 10 Dec 1962
Venezuela 31 May 1983
Yemen 9 Feb 1987
Yugoslavia 10 Dec 1962 19 June 1964
Zimbabwe 23 Nov 1994

Status of child marriage

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Despite the development of this convention, child marriage and forced marriage are still an issue worldwide. More than 12 million girls were forced into marriage in 2020.[6]

On December 10, 2019, then Philippine president Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11596 or the "An Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties for Violations Thereof" thereby criminalizing the practice of child marriage in the Philippines. The law was enacted in compliance with the Philippine obligation under the convention. The law prohibits marriage between a child and a child or between an adult and a child. This is whether in informal union or cohabitation outside of wedlock between an adult and a child, or between children. The law intends to abolish all traditional and cultural practices and structures that perpetuate discrimination, abuse. However, while the law also declared child betrothal as has no legal effect it does not provide any penalty thereof.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "OHCHR | Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  2. ^ "United Nations Treaty Collection". treaties.un.org. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "OHCHR | Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  4. ^ a b Sivaramayya, B. (1966). "Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages 1962, with Special Reference to India". Journal of the Indian Law Institute. 8 (3): 402–412. ISSN 0019-5731. JSTOR 43949910.
  5. ^ United Nations. "Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Republic Act 11596". lawphil.net. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
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