Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the concluding observation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2023 that all marriages of under-18s should be prohibited in Scotland, what progress it has made with increasing the legal age of marriage to 18, and by what date it will publish its consultation on this matter.
The Scottish Government is taking seriously concerns that 16- and 17-year-olds may need more protection. Our consultation on a range of family law matters, including whether we should legislate to raise the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership to 18, is in the latter stages of preparation and will be published this Autumn. The responses to the consultation will, along with other available evidence, help inform our decisions on next steps.