Young Lives support for Legal Consultation on Child Marriage
A legal consultation recently took place in New Delhi to look at ways in which the various laws that relate to child marriage could be better synchronised for the future.
On 25 April 2017, government officials, senior advocates, representatives from the National State Legal Authority and Delhi State Legal Authority as well as from Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana State Legal Authorities participated in the consultation which focused on the implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006 and the formulation of Standard Operating Procedures to prevent child marriage.
During the consultation, the legal experts and officials also focused on a range of law and policies related to child marriage including the Indian Penal Code of 1860, The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, The Protection of women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, The Juvenile Justice Act 2015 as well as the Personal Laws prevalent in different communities . The aim was to synchronise the provisions of these acts without disturbing the spirit behind the laws.
The consultation was organised by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) with support from Young Lives India.
"This consultation was the first of its kind in the history of Young Lives and the response of this consultation was beyond expectations" said Dr Renu Singh, country director of Young Lives India.
"The judges, senior advocates and officers from the State and National legal authorities, discussed the anomalies in the current laws relating to child marriage. We're confident that these discussions provided the judges with a range of insights which will help them in taking judgement on child marriage in court. The panel felt more discussions would be needed in the future to discuss streamlining and implementing the various legal acts".
The State legal authorities also shared best practice and interventions. The Rajasthan State legal authority shared the effective implementation of it's child marriage prevention programme whch is led by the judiciaries which was of interest to the other authorities interested in scaling up their own activities.
To find out more about Young Lives work on Child Marriage:
Child Marriage and Early Childbearing in India: Risk Factors and Policy Implications
Gendered Trajectories through School, Work and Marriage
Factors Shaping Trajectories to Child and Early Marriage