Commentary on provisions of Act
Section 1 – Marriage: increase of minimum age to 18
- This section amends the MA 1949.
- Subsection (2) amends the MA 1949 to substitute "18" for "16" to provide that a marriage solemnised where one party is under the age of 18 is void.
- Subsection (3) omits section 3 of the MA 1949 (the current provision which sets out consent requirements for those marrying under 18 years).
Section 2 – Offence of conduct relating to marriage of persons under 18
- This section amends section 121 of the ASBCPA 2014.
- Subsection (2) inserts new subsection (3A) into section 121. This provides that a person commits an offence under the law of England and Wales if he or she carries out any conduct for the purpose of causing a child to enter into a marriage before the child’s eighteenth birthday (whether or not the conduct amounts to violence, threats, any other form of coercion or deception and whether or not it is carried out in England and Wales). Following existing subsection (4) of section 121, a marriage is defined as any religious or civil ceremony of marriage, whether or not it is legally binding.
- Subsection (3) specifies that, for the purpose of the new offence inserted by subsection (2), a child is a person who is aged under 18 years.
- Subsection (4) amends subsection (6) of section 121. Subsection (6) of section 121 provides that if someone uses violence, threats or any other form of coercion for the purpose of causing another person to enter into a marriage, as is required for a person to be convicted of the offence in subsection (1) of section 121, the violence, threats or other form of coercion need not have been directed at the person whom it was intended to cause to enter the marriage, but could instead have been directed at another person. Subsection (4) would make similar provision for the new offence inserted by subsection (2), meaning that, if a person carries out conduct for the purpose of causing a child to enter into a marriage before the child’s eighteenth birthday, that conduct need not have been directed at that child, but could have been directed at another person.
- Subsection (5) inserts new subsection (7A) into section 121. Subsection (7A) would provide that an offence under new subsection (3A) (whose content is described in paragraph 23) is committed only if the conduct carried out for the purpose of causing a child to enter into a marriage before their eighteenth birthday is for the purpose of causing the child to enter into a marriage in England or Wales; or at the time of the conduct, at least one of the person carrying out the conduct or the victim is habitually resident in England and Wales; or at the time of the conduct the child is a United Kingdom national who has at some point been habitually resident in England and Wales and who is not habitually resident or domiciled in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Section 3 – Civil partnership: increase of minimum age to 18
- This section amends the CPA 2004.
- Subsection (2) amends section 3 of the CPA 2004 to substitute the age of "18" for "16" in the eligibility requirements.
- Subsection (3) omits section 4 (the current provision which requires parental consent where a proposed civil partner is under 18).
Section 4 – Civil partnerships etc. registered outside England and Wales
- This section amends the CPA 2004.
- Subsection 2 amends section 54 (validity of civil partnerships registered outside England and Wales). It inserts subsections that provide that where two people register as civil partners in Scotland or Northern Ireland, the partnership will be void if at time of registration, either of the two people were domiciled in England and Wales and either under 18.
- Subsection 2 (c) also amends section 54 so that if two people convert their marriage into a civil partnership under Northern Irish regulations, it will be void if either of them was domiciled in England and Wales and either under 18 when the marriage was solemnised.
- Subsection 3 amends section 217 (person domiciled in a part of the United Kingdom) which provides for an overseas relationship being registered by a person domiciled in England and Wales and increases the age under which two people are not to be treated as formed a civil partnership from 16 to 18. This is the only provision that extends to Scotland and Northern Ireland and therefore forms part of the law of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Section 5 – Power to make consequential amendments
- This section allows the Secretary of State to make regulations by statutory instrument which make provision consequential on the provisions on the Act, including transitional or saving provision. Regulations may amend, repeal or revoke provisions made by or under primary legislation.
Section 6 – Extent
- Section 6 sets out the extent of the Act (see commentary in paras 16 to 19 above and Annex A for more information).
Section 7 – Commencement
- Subsections (1) and (2) provide that the provisions of the Act will come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by regulations appoint and that different days may be appointed for different purposes.
- Subsection (3) provides that the Secretary of State may make transitional, transitory or saving provision in connection with the coming into force of any provision of the Act.
- Subsection (4) provides that regulations under this section are to be made by statutory instrument.
Section 8 – Saving Provision
- This section provides that any amendments made by the Act do not affect the validity of any marriages or civil partnerships entered (or the treatment as a civil partnership of an overseas relationships registered under the relevant law) before the Act comes into force.
Section 9 – Short title
- Section 8 sets out the short title of the Act.
