Child marriages remain legal, just follow the SOP?

PUTRAJAYA: A standard operating procedure (SOP) for the approval of underage marriages under the Syariah Court has been set up, said the Women, Family and Community Development Minister's political secretary Rodziah Ismail.

She said the SOP has been drawn up to ensure that conditions for the approval of underage marriage of Muslims in the country are more stringent.

"Before this there was no SOP, there were bits of guidelines here and there, but there was no SOP," she said at the Women, Family and Community Development office here on Wednesday (July 11).

The SOP was drawn up by the Syariah Judicial Department, she stressed, and further enquiries on the details of the SOP should be directed there.

However, she stressed that the Pakatan Harapan Government remains committed to efforts in raising the minimum marriage age to 18.

The implementation of the SOP came following public outcry over the marriage between a 41-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl in Kelantan.

The Gua Musang Syariah Lower Court had fined the man RM1,800, who was charged with solemnising a marriage and committing polygamy without permission.

Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was previously reported as saying that the marriage was recognised from the perspective of Islamic laws (hukum), but not from the legal perspective.

According to the Islamic Family Law Enactment, which applies in all states, the minimum legal age for marriage is 18 for a male and 16 for a female.

Those under the legal minimum age will only be permitted to get married if they get the consent of the Syariah Court and their parents.