On 6 December, Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston asked the Scottish Government “whether it will provide an update on its consideration regarding the legal age of marriage”.

Siobhian Brown, Minister for Victims and Community Safety, replied as follows:

“Members will be aware that we have been gathering views and evidence from a range of stakeholders around the minimum age of marriage and considering next steps following the recent concluding observation of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child that we prohibit all marriages of under-18s in Scotland.

Whilst very few 16- and 17-year-olds marry or register a civil partnership in Scotland each year (in 2022 out of over 30,000 marriages, only 18 involved a party or parties under 18), we are cognisant of the concluding observations. Therefore I have now decided that the Scottish Government should consult formally in this area in 2024. Continue reading →