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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 The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
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 A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...
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. The Convention is based on article 16 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...
. 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.


History

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. 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. In 1957, the Commission on the Status of Women requested the Economic and Social Council to work on the convention. 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.


Summary of Articles

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 The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...
. Article 9: The
Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
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.


List of signatories and parties


Status of child marriage

Despite the development of this convention,
child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a mal ...
and
forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...
are still an issue worldwide. More than 12 million girls were forced into marriage in 2020.


See also

*
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...
*
Human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extr ...
*
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...
*
Age of Marriage Act 1929 The Age of Marriage Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo 5 c 36) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which increased the age of marriage to sixteen. It was passed in response to a campaign by the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marriage Consent, Minimum Age for Marriage, Registration of Marriage Convention United Nations treaties Treaties concluded in 1962 Treaties entered into force in 1964 Women's rights instruments Marriage age Minimum ages Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of Bangladesh Treaties of Barbados Treaties of the Republic of Dahomey Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of the military dictatorship in Brazil Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Ivory Coast Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cuba Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Denmark Treaties of the Dominican Republic Treaties of Fiji Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of West Germany Treaties of East Germany Treaties of Guatemala Treaties of Guinea Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic Treaties of Iceland Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Liberia Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Treaties of Mali Treaties of Mexico Treaties of the Mongolian People's Republic Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Niger Treaties of Norway Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of the Polish People's Republic Treaties of Romania Treaties of Rwanda Treaties of Samoa Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of South Africa Treaties of Francoist Spain Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties of Sweden Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of South Yemen Treaties of Zimbabwe Family law treaties Treaties adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolutions Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to Akrotiri and Dhekelia Treaties extended to Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla Treaties extended to Bermuda Treaties extended to the British Antarctic Territory Treaties extended to the British Indian Ocean Territory Treaties extended to the British Virgin Islands Treaties extended to the Cayman Islands Treaties extended to the Falkland Islands Treaties extended to Gibraltar Treaties extended to Guernsey Treaties extended to the Isle of Man Treaties extended to Jersey Treaties extended to Montserrat Treaties extended to the Pitcairn Islands Treaties extended to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Treaties extended to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Treaties extended to the Turks and Caicos Islands Treaties extended to Hong Kong Treaties extended to Surinam (Dutch colony) Treaties extended to British Antigua and Barbuda Treaties extended to Brunei (protectorate) Treaties extended to British Dominica Treaties extended to British Grenada Treaties extended to British Saint Lucia Treaties extended to British Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties extended to West Berlin Treaties of the United States