Concluding Observations Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4 para 30 Full recommendation: The Committee urges the State party to revise its legislation in order to ensure that girls enjoy the same rights and entitlements as boys in all aspects of life, especially in family relations, the criminal and civil justice system and property rights, and to take measures to eliminate any forms of discrimination in practice. Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1 A. Family relations Child marriage continues to be permitted under Iranian law yet the minimum age of marriage is different based on gender. The legal minimum age for marriage is 13 for girls and 15 for boys.2 However, children who have reached puberty can marry with parental consent and court approval.3 The predefined age of puberty under the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the age of legal majority, is 9 lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys.4 Marriage before puberty is criminalised in accordance with Article 50 of the Family Protection Act5 and is punished under Article 646 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013).6 In 2018, a proposed amendment to Article 1041 of the Civil Code that would raise the age of marriage for girls from 13 to 16, while allowing earlier marriage with legal and medical approval, was rejected by the Parliament’s Committee for Judicial and Legal Affairs.7 In February 2019, the chair of the Committee stated that a “new plan” would be introduced for the approval of parliament and the Guardian Council.8 During its last Universal Periodic Review (November 2019), the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that the Act on Protection, Dignity and Security of Women against Violence, currently under governmental review, will be “aimed at criminalising new forms of assault, harassment and violations of the 1 CRC.19.1.S.; ESCR.3.S.1; CCPR.14.1.S.1; CRC.19.1.P.1; ESCR.2.2.P.1; CCPR.3.O.2; ESCR.2.2.O.2; CCPR.14.1.O.2 2 Article 1041 of the Civil Code as amended up until December 2000, NGO Impact Iran Coalition, Joint Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2016, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CRC_NGO_IRN_19809_E.pdf 3 Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/wpcontent/uploads/pdf_en/LegalCom/Womens_Rights_Commentary_389929723.pdf 4 Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2016, CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4, paras. 27–28 https://undocs.org/en/CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4 5 Universal Periodic Review, Iran, 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12 6 Islamic Penal Code (2013), Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamicpenal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/ 7 Amnesty International, UPR submission 2019, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1305732019ENGLISH.PDF 8 Information from Impact Iran; see www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1397/11/17/1941311/ 1

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