Jeddah Saudi Arabia is edging closer to setting a minimum age for marriage, a Justice Ministry official was quoted as saying yesterday, following international criticism of cases of child brides.
"The ministry has adopted a clear stance on under-age marriages and the issue was raised to the regulators," Mohammad Al Babetein, head of the Justice Ministry's marriages department, was quoted as saying in the daily Al Madina newspaper.
"It supports setting unified regulations to deal with such practices, which will ensure the safety of young girls," he said.
Al Babetein said the ministry was still in discussions over what age the limit should be set at, Al Madina reported.
No concrete reports
Last May the consultative Shoura Council, which advises the government on new laws, was reported in the local press as recommending the introduction of a minimum marriage age but there have been no concrete reports of further progress.
Human rights organisation Amnesty International said the Saudi government had been saying for several years that it planned to introduce a minimum age for marriage.
"But until we see actual legislation and how it's implemented, rather than merely fine words, we will continue to have serious concerns about lack of protection for girls from early and forced marriage," said James Lynch, Amnesty's Middle East spokesman.
Saudi Arabia currently has no minimum legal age for marriage and fathers are granted guardianship over their daughters, giving them control over who they can marry and when.
