Malaysia should take the "difficult" step and get rid of the difference in legal age of marriage between syariah and civil laws, in its efforts to ban child marriage, a United Nations officer specialising in the matter said today.

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, who is the UN special rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, said there should be no exception on the objective to raise the minimum marriageable age to 18.

"How can you reconcile that with the objective of reaching a legal age of marriage without exception?

"You don't need a standard operating procedure. No! It's about reassessing the (legal) age," Boer-Buquicchio said during a press conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur to present her initial findings after an eight-day visit during which she met with various stakeholders.

She said this when asked for comments on the government's move to draft a temporary standard operating procedure for syariah courts, as it moves towards an outright ban on child marriages.

"I'm not saying its an easy thing but it must be done. Better sooner than later," she added.

At present, syariah law allows girls under 16 and boys under 18 to marry, with exception of Selangor which recently moved to standardise the legal age to 18.

State syariah enactments stipulate that syariah judges must personally interview younger applicants to assess their preparedness for marriage.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa previously said the guidelines used as a reference for syariah judges were issued following an 11-year-old girl’s marriage to a 41-year-old man (photo) in Gua Musang, Kelantan, in June.

Asked whether Malaysia should do away with its dual legal system in dealing with the issue of child marriage, Boer-Buquicchio said: "In this aspect, definitely yes."

She argued that such a consideration should be made with priority given to protecting the best interest of a child.

'Girls disposed of as commodity'

On the underlying factors for child marriage, Boer-Buquicchio said while poverty is often cited as an excuse, the root cause remains to be a prevailing patriarchal culture among local communities.

"Girls are often disposed of as a commodity.

"To counter that, it takes a lot of effort to undermine the patriarchal culture, highlight the fact that by marrying a girl, you are depriving them of their basic human rights," she said.

Commenting further, Boer-Buquicchio said part of her recommendations to be tabled as a report to the UN, would be for Malaysia to adopt a non-discrimination policy that prioritises the protection of children.

She stressed that the UN Convention on Rights of the Child, of which Malaysia is a signatory, states that all children have a right to equal protection regardless of their status.

"The whole issue of documentation and birth must be given a priority.

"This is so no child in this country will be left without an identification document, because it offers them protection," she explained.

Based on her visit to Sabah and Sarawak, Boer-Buquicchion noted there were issues of undocumented children, either born to Malaysians or whose parents were similarly undocumented.

"What I would recommend to the government, do everything it can to stop this poisonous rhetoric that immigrants pose a security threat," she said.

During her eight-day visit, Boer-Buquicchion said she had met with various stakeholders from public officers, civil society workers, as well as children who were caught in vulnerable situations.

She said that the findings from her visit would be compiled into a report to be tabled to the UN in Geneva in March next year.