Scotland child marriage law

Scotland child marriage law: why 16 is not protection

Freedom Charity calls for change as Scotland considers raising the minimum age of marriage to 18.

Child marriage remains legal in Scotland. The Scotland child marriage law allows a 16-year-old to enter a marriage or civil partnership without parental consent, without a safeguarding assessment and without any statutory requirement to check for coercion, grooming or pressure. The law treats that decision as a valid contract. From a child protection perspective, it creates a clear risk.

Freedom Charity works nationally to prevent forced marriage, child marriage, FGM and what it terms dishonour abuse. The charity warns that Scotland remains an outlier in the United Kingdom and wants the Scotland child marriage law brought into line with modern safeguarding standards.

Under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977, the minimum legal age for marriage is 16. Unlike in many jurisdictions, a 16 or 17-year-old does not need parental consent in order to marry. This legal position predates current child protection frameworks and no longer reflects the direction of UK policy or international advice on children’s rights.

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on raising the minimum age for marriage and civil partnership to 18. Freedom Charity welcomes this consultation. However, the organisation stresses that reform has to go beyond altering a number on the statute book. Real change depends on training, recording, accountability and a clear safeguarding framework. A change in law on paper will mean little if practice remains unchanged.

“Child marriage must be illegal. A child cannot consent to marriage, and consent cannot be assumed where power, pressure or control are in play,” says Aneeta Prem MBE JP, Founder of Freedom Charity. “Any law that allows marriage under 18, whether through parental consent, judicial approval or unchallenged family expectation, leaves children exposed. Scotland now has an opportunity to close that gap.”

What is the child marriage law in Scotland?

At present, the Scotland child marriage law permits marriage and civil partnership from 16. There is no parental consent requirement and no automatic safeguarding referral when a 16 or 17-year-old presents to marry. In theory, registrars can raise concerns. In practice, there is no universal mechanism that requires a structured risk assessment in every case.

Scotland also has legislation that addresses forced marriage. Courts can issue Forced Marriage Protection Orders to stop a wedding or to protect someone already in a forced marriage. Even so, where a young person is 16 or 17 and appears to co-operate, professionals may hesitate to treat the situation as abuse. The fact that the law itself treats them as old enough to marry can influence how frontline staff respond.

The current consultation proposes raising the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership to 18 and strengthening the way the law responds when a child is pressured into marriage. Freedom Charity is urging that any reform should explicitly recognise child marriage as a safeguarding issue. It should also ensure that child protection duties are triggered whenever a marriage involving someone under 18 is being considered.

England and Wales: the loophole that had to close

For many years, England and Wales permitted marriage at 16 with parental consent. Policy makers once believed that parental consent would act as a safeguard. Experience showed something different. In reality, the consent requirement became a loophole. Consent could be presented as a formality even where the child felt unable to refuse. Young people described feeling obliged to agree in front of relatives, with no safe way to say no.

Freedom Charity took part in the wider campaign that helped bring about the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022. This legislation made it illegal for anyone under 18 to marry in England and Wales under any circumstances. Parliament recognised that parental consent did not reliably protect children and that early marriage closely linked to coercion, abuse and loss of education.

Scotland does not rely on parental consent in the same way. However, the absence of a consent requirement does not guarantee free choice. It simply means the law does not insist on safeguards. When a child can marry at 16 without independent checks, grooming, fear or family pressure can remain unseen.

“It is not enough to record that a young person has said yes,” says Prem. “What matters is whether they could safely say no. Safeguarding is about that difference.”

A child’s view: pressure dressed as choice

Freedom Charity has spoken to teenagers who were told that marriage at 16 was the respectable or expected thing to do. One girl described how saying no would have meant being labelled ungrateful and disloyal. On paper she agreed to the marriage. In reality, she felt backed into a corner with no safe alternative.

Situations like this do not arise in only one community or country. They appear wherever family honour, community reputation and a child’s future collide. When the law enables marriage at 16, powerful pressures can be presented as personal choice rather than recognised as a safeguarding concern.

Why 18 matters

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as anyone under 18. UNICEF and UNFPA have repeatedly urged governments to set 18 as the minimum age of marriage with no exceptions. The reasoning is straightforward. Before 18, a young person is still developing and remains entitled to the full range of protections that come with childhood.

Where marriage is allowed below 18, several patterns appear again and again:

• professionals hesitate to intervene, assuming it is a private decision

• schools and colleges treat concern as a family matter

• police view disclosures as domestic conflict rather than potential abuse

• registrars lack a formal route to escalate doubts

• children internalise pressure as duty or obligation

These patterns allow abuse to become normalised. They create conditions in which dishonour abuse flourishes.

Freedom Charity uses the term “dishonour abuse” deliberately. The charity rejects the phrase “honour-based abuse” because that wording wrongly suggests there is something honourable in controlling or harming a child. In Freedom’s view, the dishonour lies with the perpetrator, not with the victim.

A global patchwork that reaches into the UK

Scotland is not the only jurisdiction where child marriage remains possible under 18. Across parts of Europe, some states permit marriage under 18 with judicial approval or in special circumstances. In the United States, child marriage is still legal in most states, often with parental or court consent. Across several countries in the Middle East and North Africa, religious or personal status courts can authorise marriage under 18 if they consider a young person mature.

In each region, exceptions that look narrow in law can, in practice, sustain child marriage. International agencies have warned that where exceptions exist, child marriage persists.

For the United Kingdom, this is not an abstract global issue. Children with links to other countries may be taken abroad to marry. Others may have marriages arranged partly in the UK and partly under overseas systems. A strong and consistent position within the UK, including in Scotland, forms an essential part of a wider safeguarding response.

Why Scotland must change its child marriage law

Freedom Charity believes Scotland now has an opportunity to align its law with current child protection principles. Reform should:

• raise the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership to 18

• ensure that any attempt to arrange marriage under 18 is treated as a safeguarding concern

• provide clear pathways for registrars, teachers, NHS staff and social workers to escalate worries

• link child marriage explicitly with forced marriage and dishonour abuse in guidance and training

Legal reform should not punish children. It should protect them. That approach means combining criminal law where necessary with protective orders, support for those at risk, safe housing when needed and confidential health care.

Professionals repeatedly report uncertainty about when to act. When the law clearly recognises child marriage as abuse, action becomes easier. Where the law is silent or split, hesitation increases and risk grows.

Freedom Charity’s position

Freedom Charity sets out a straightforward position. Any system that permits marriage under 18, whether through parental consent, judicial discretion or lack of scrutiny, leaves children more vulnerable to abuse.

The charity supports the Scottish Government’s consultation on raising the minimum age. It urges that the final legislation:

• sets 18 as the clear minimum age with no exceptions

• embeds safeguarding duties in guidance for all relevant professionals

• is accompanied by training and public education, not only a legal change

Freedom Charity took part in the campaign that helped bring about the law change to criminalise child marriage in England and Wales, alongside many other organisations, survivors and advocates. The charity now stands ready to support reform in Scotland with training, resources and practical safeguarding advice.

“Reform is not about criticising communities,” says Prem. “It is about being honest about risk. A loving family does not need the option of child marriage. Abusive situations do. Scotland has a chance to put children’s safety first.”

If you are worried about a child

If you are worried that a child may be at risk of forced or child marriage, Freedom Charity encourages you to act. Professionals should follow their organisation’s safeguarding procedures and may need to contact social services, the police or the United Kingdom Government’s Forced Marriage Unit for advice. Members of the public who are concerned can speak to a trusted professional or contact Freedom Charity for guidance.

Children should never be left to navigate this alone.

If you cover consent capacity or children’s status in Scots law, the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 clarifies that 16-year-olds have legal capacity for many contracts (including marriage).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Legal_Capacity_%28Scotland%29_Act_1991 Wikipedia

About the author

Aneeta Prem MBE JP, Founder of Freedom Charity.
Author of But It’s Not Fair and Cut Flowers (PSHE Association accredited).
Safeguarding campaigner.

Freedom Charity is a United Kingdom safeguarding charity working to prevent forced marriage, child marriage, FGM and dishonour abuse.