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