Islamabad made headlines in late May 2025 when President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025, raising the minimum legal marriage age to 18 for both boys and girls and criminalizing marriages involving minors.
The legislation abolishes outdated colonial-era norms in ICT, aligning local law with progressive frameworks like Sindh’s 2013 statute and Pakistan’s international obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. By extending equal protections to both genders, the law closes a longstanding “age of consent” gap, replacing previous disparities that allowed girls to marry at 16 and boys at 18.
The Act imposes stringent penalties designed to deter underage unions: Nikah registrars face up to one year in prison and a PKR 100,000 fine for solemnizing such marriages; adult men marrying minors may receive up to three years’ rigorous imprisonment; and parents or facilitators arranging such unions can be sentenced to two to seven years in jail and fined up to PKR 1 million. Statutory rape provisions now apply to any sexual relations within underage marriages, while courts are mandated to conclude trials within 90 days and empowered to issue injunctions to prevent impending child marriages. Notably, whistleblowers may request anonymity, and courts are required to protect their identities.
Civil society and rights bodies welcomed the law. Senator Sherry Rehman, who tabled the bill in the Senate, hailed it as a “milestone in Pakistan’s legislative history,” supported by the National Commission on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The dispute’s climax drew attention from advocates like Senator Naseema Ehsan, a former child bride, who shared her personal health struggles and championed the law as a critical step forward.
The law also triggered fierce opposition. The Council of Islamic Ideology declared it “contrary to Islamic law,” arguing that puberty, rather than a fixed age, should determine marriage eligibility. JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman pledged countrywide protests, calling the law “un-Islamic” and warning against “Western interference” in traditional practices. Religious conservatives maintain that official CII review was bypassed, although advocates counter that the Federal Shariat Court in 2022 upheld Sindh’s similar law as compatible with Sharia, affirming the state’s jurisdiction to set legal marriage ages.
Globally, Islamabad’s law aligns Pakistan with many Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, Turkey, and the UAE, which set the legal marriage age at 18. Similarly, India’s 2006 Child Marriage Prohibition Act establishes an age limit of 18 for girls and 21 for boys, while other nations enforce annulment of child marriages along with criminal sanctions. Under international law, Pakistan’s move fulfills the UNCRC’s obligations to protect children and aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goal of ending child marriage by 2030.
Anticipated benefits are clear: improved health outcomes, reduced maternal risk, retention of girls in education, and strengthened gender equality by ensuring legal parity. The law also centralizes prosecution within competent District and Sessions Courts, avoiding appellate delays. Yet practical challenges remain. Sindh’s low conviction rates—just 30 convictions out of 272 FIRs in six years—highlight systemic enforcement weaknesses. Cultural norms may drive illicit or coerced elopements, underscoring that legislation alone is insufficient. Effective implementation will require training registrars, NADRA verification, increased police vigilance, and robust community-awareness campaigns. Finally, Islamabad’s example creates both a precedent and pressure for provinces like Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan to replicate progressive law reform.
The Islamabad law marks a watershed in Pakistan’s child-protection agenda—legislatively bold, internationally aligned, and centered on human rights. By replacing colonial-era statutes and gender-biased norms with a modern, child-centric legal framework, it sets the stage for nationwide reform. While religious opposition and enforcement obstacles remain, the law’s clarity, penalties, and judicial mechanisms indicate Islamabad’s resolve to secure children’s rights to health, education, and dignity. Its ripple effects may yet reshape Pakistan’s legal and cultural landscape indefinitely.
The writer is a lawyer in Islamabad.
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