Marriage ban for under-18-year-olds: protection for young people in focus!

Marriage ban for under-18-year-olds: protection for young people in focus!

The Austrian Minister of Justice Anna Sporrer (SPÖ) announced the upcoming marriage ban for people under the age of 18 in the Ö1-centriform journal. This law, the implementation of which is to be decided by a Ministerial Council in the coming week, has already been decided by the predecessor, but never put into action, as OE24 . This measure is intended to protect young people, especially young women, before early marriages.

The focus of the initiative is that young women can focus more on their training and employment instead of going into marriage at an early stage. Although the number of marriages under 18 in Austria in 2023 only included ten cases, Sporrer emphasizes that the protection of young people of this regulation is necessary regardless of the current figures. In addition, the minister refers to the importance of international standards that are defined in the Child Rights Convention.

legal situation for minors in Germany

In the context of the protection of minors, the German federal government also plans to provide extensive regulations. The Federal Ministry of Justice has published a draft law for the protection of minors who deals with marriages where a person was under 16 at the time of marriage. Such marriages should be ineffective in Germany, even if they have been legally valid abroad. This happens in accordance with a judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court, which recently decided that the existing law to combat children's marriages was unconstitutional, as was both bmj.de bmj.de Report.

According to the new draft, marriages in which at least one person was under 16 when the marriage was under 16, ineffective, without this having to be determined by an authority or a court. It is also stipulated that such minors cannot be obliged to pay maintenance. For the persons concerned, the possibility is given to "heal" a marriage that has been closed before the age of 18 has reached the age of 18. These regulations should strengthen the rights and protection of young spouses.

conclusion: protection for young people

The initiative of both countries aims to improve the protection of minors and prevent early marriages. The legal changes in Germany are necessary to meet the requirements of the Federal Constitutional Court, while Austria adapts their own legal basis for the protection of young people. The draft of the German government is already transmitted to the coalition factions as formulation aid so that it can be treated quickly in the Bundestag.