The Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (Asli) calls for an end to child marriages by amending relevant laws.

According to a statement from Asli today, the federal government and state governments should also ensure domestic legal frameworks are ‘fully compatible’ with international and regional human rights standards.

“We welcome the decision by the Selangor, Penang, Sabah, Johor, Malacca and Perak state governments to amend their states’ Islamic laws in order to ban child marriages.

“We hope that the state governments of Sarawak, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Kelantan will soon be following suit,” it said.

Asli said while there have been on-going efforts on the Federal government to amend relevant legislation, the issuance of detailed guidelines for Syariah Court judges should be also expedited for approval of child marriages based on existing state Islamic laws.

Last Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Women, Family and Community Development Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat that the government was preparing the draft of the National Strategic Plan to tackle under-age marriages.

The draft involves the amendment of the Islamic Family Law 1984 (Act 303) by fixing the marriage age at 18 for women.

- Bernama