According to the recent meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the adoption of a resolution prohibiting marriage of individuals under the age of 18, which faced opposition from Iran and Sudan and was ultimately approved by the General Assembly, apart from the social and cultural reasons that make marriages under the age of 18 possible in Iran, the legal flaws in this matter in Iranian laws must be addressed, along with the flaws in international resolutions. After examining these issues, the economic, social, and cultural issues that lead to these marriages must also be investigated.

To address this issue, above all, a comprehensive definition of this reality is necessary, and the most comprehensive definition in this regard is the one stated in Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, which states: “A child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” With this definition, the bitter reality of more than 700 million child marriages in the world, with more than 250 million of them being married before the age of fifteen, becomes evident. In Iran, according to the Civil Registration Organization’s report for the first nine months of 2013, more than 30,000 girls under the age of 15 were married. Based on these statistics, for the past seven years, the age of more than one-third of women whose marriages were registered, has been under 19 years old. This is despite the fact that despite Iran’s acceptance

Therefore, according to this article, which is based on religious beliefs prevailing in Iran and without any psychological examination in this regard, and despite the amendment of Article 1041 of the Civil Code, which states: “The marriage of a girl before the age of 13 and a boy before the age of 15 is subject to the consent of the guardian, with the condition of considering the best interests of the parties by a competent court.” In fact, the legal age for marriage for girls is at least 13 years old and for boys is at least 15 years old, but nevertheless, marriage below this age is possible with the permission of the guardian. In other words, forced marriage by families is possible, while according to international definitions, the minimum age for mental maturity is 18 years old and in some countries it is even 21 years old. Therefore, what should be considered in this regard is mental maturity, not physical or sexual maturity, which is used in Iranian laws and without

It should also not be forgotten that issues related to the age of children and the age of marriage in international declarations and resolutions are also subject to many flaws; as it allows countries to define these terms according to their own domestic laws, without considering legal and international issues. Unfortunately, there is no mechanism for legal action against this issue, which indicates the lack of implementation of these resolutions. Despite their approval, many countries do not have any commitment to accepting and implementing them. In this regard, the minimum age of children is also subject to many flaws, including Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states: “A child is anyone under the age of 18, and 18 is considered the age of maturity, unless the national law sets a lower legal age.”

According to the second part of this article, it is the participating countries that define their own definition of the age of a child based on their domestic laws, not an international definition. In relation to this, the age of marriage is also determined by Article 2 of the Convention on the Age of Marriage and Consent to Marriage, which states: “Participating countries must take legal action to determine the minimum age for marriage. No person under this age should be legally registered for marriage, unless in circumstances where a competent authority, for serious and valid reasons, agrees to it for the benefit of the couple intending to marry.” Despite the fact that this article sets a minimum age and, according to international definitions, being at least 18 years old is the standard, the main issue that can be raised is not only related to the domestic laws of countries, but also giving the power to competent authorities to agree to marriage, regardless of the harmful psychological and emotional effects of marriage before the age of 18

One of the other issues that has been approved by member countries of the United Nations in international forums regarding the age of marriage is the 1995 Beijing Declaration of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which states in Article 274: “Governments are obligated to establish and enforce precise laws that guarantee full and free consent of marriage for women and men, and also determine a minimum legal age for marriage that is appropriate.”

Therefore, despite the fact that many countries have accepted them, there are also other issues in addition to the mentioned flaws that recognize the age of marriage under 18, which, although belonging to past decades, is necessary for the approving authority to take steps to cancel it and pass new laws, and member countries of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are obligated to accept and implement them. One of these cases is the United Nations General Assembly resolution in 1965, which its second article is related to the age of marriage and states: “The age of marriage should not be less than 15 years. Any marriage before this age is illegal, unless a competent authority allows marriage at this age for serious reasons.” As can be seen, not only the age of 15 for marriage is mentioned in this resolution, but even marriage before this age is accepted with the consent of a competent authority, so serious steps must be taken to abolish such provisions.

Based on the mentioned cases, not only should these laws be amended, but more effective measures should be taken to approve legal and human rights that prevent child marriage. It should be acknowledged that due to lack of mental maturity, most of these marriages are forced in third world countries and the principle of spousal freedom is questioned, especially in Iran where according to Article 1043 of the Civil Code, any marriage before or after the age of 18 is subject to the permission of the father or paternal grandfather and deprives girls of the right to choose their spouse. Article 1043 of the Civil Code explicitly states that: “The marriage of a virgin girl, even if she has reached the age of maturity, is subject to the permission of the father or paternal grandfather.”

At the end, it should be noted that the lack of laws to punish those who force children under the legal age to marry is a significant weakness in current international laws and conventions.