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Under-age marriages no longer possible

Ministry of Justice
Publication date 14.3.2019 14.54
Press release

The procedure for granting dispensations for under-age persons to marry will be abolished. The amendment will enter into force on 1 June 2019. In future, only persons who have reached the age of 18 years can marry.

Until now, the Marriage Act has allowed the Ministry of Justice to grant, for special reasons, a dispensation for a person under 18 years of age to marry. This procedure will now be abolished. Behind the reform is the need to protect the best interests of the child.

The parliamentary reply regarding the government proposal includes three resolutions of Parliament. In the resolutions, Parliament requires, among other things, that a need to reform the regulation governing the recognition of under-age marriages concluded abroad should be examined.

The President of the Republic is expected to approve the bill on Friday. 

Inquiries: Outi Kemppainen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 150 260, email: [email protected], Pekka Pulkkinen, Director, tel. +358 295 150 224, email: [email protected]

Government decisions (in Finnish)

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