Pakistan enacts law to check child marriage, fixes minimum age at 18

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday signed into law a bill fixing the minimum age for marriage at 18 years to curb child marriages despite opposition from right-wing clerics.

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The Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, seeking to protect the rights of children and eventually eradicate marriages of children under the age of 18, was sent to the president’s approval on May 27 after sailing through both houses of Parliament.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman shared on X a presidential notification related to the approval of the legislation.

“The Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2025 is assented to, as passed by the Parliament,” the notification read.

Zardari accented to the bill despite strong opposition from religious groups and even the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), a constitutional body tasked to offer counsel on legal issues, in a ruling said that classifying marriage under the age of 18 as rape did not conform with Islamic law.

Rehman said the approval of the bill was successful despite resistance from various sections, adding that President Zardari signed the bill despite pressure. “The signing of the Child Marriage Restraint Bill is a symbol of a new era of reforms in Pakistan,” she said.

Earlier, CII member Maulana Jalaludin, who belongs to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), said President Zardari should prevent anarchy in society by not signing the bill.