CAIRO: Egypt's Attorney General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud revealed that there were an estimated 9,351 under-age marriages in the country, with the vast majority of them taking place in Cairo. His statement comes as the Ministry of Family and Population's continues its efforts to combat under-age marriage, reporting such cases and prosecuting any ma'zoon, or Islamic notary. Mahmoud said his office is attempting to track down and arrest those notaries who disobey the law, which states the legal age of marriage to be 18-years-old. His statements came after the Attorney General – in coordination with the Ministry of Family and Population – gave orders to inspect and review the work of notaries all over Egypt. Mahmoud noted that Cairo was ranked at the top in the number of cases of marriages violating the law, where Cairo recorded 4,102 cases, followed by Mansoura with 3,383 cases, Tanta at 834 case, while Alexandria only recorded 15 cases. He mentioned that “legal action was taken against notaries who violated the law and endorsed such marriages.” Mahmoud said during a panel discussion on anti-child marriage as a form of trafficking that “the role of prosecutors and the attorney general is to prosecute the perpetrators of these violations at the level of the Republic, in addition to the assignment of a tripartite committee chaired by inspectors of the general prosecution, family prosecution to check and review the work of the notaries, and to assign committees to follow-up on their work to see how they are committed to the validity of the contract documentation in a legal and correct manner and to punish to the law [ma'zoons] under Article 722 of the Penal Code and amendments to the Law of the Child, as well as with Article 31 bis of Law 143 of 1994 on Civil Status which provides that no marriage contract should be allowed for those who didn’t reach the age of 18, or being punished disciplinary, for those who document any marriage in contravention of the provisions of this article.” Mahmoud pointed out that the notary who violates these requirements “shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years and a fine not exceeding 500 pounds, pursuant to Article 227 of the Penal Code as well as accountability for disciplinary reasons.” For her part, Minister of State for the Family and Population Moshira Khattab, said the “state is fully responsible for addressing the issue of child marriage and not just by providing a service such as education and health, but their obligation to ensure the rights of each child,” noting that the issue of child marriage is a “gross violation of child rights and will lead to the deprivation of all of their rights in the health and social care and education.” Khattab also announced that the ministry will form a medical committee in cooperation with the anti-trafficking of children commitee to develop mechanisms for medical examinations, “so as to ensure their real implementation, in addition to the preparation of clear messages through specialized laws to address the issue of common law marriage and the problems resulting from it.” It is noteworthy that both the modified Child Law 126 of 2008 and article 31 of Law 143 of 1994, on Civil Status, proclaim that no marriage contract “may be documented to those who have not reached the legal age of 18, for both sexes, with no prejudice to any criminal penalty provided by another law shall be punished by disciplinary for anyone who documented marriage in contravention of the provisions of this Article, the notary who contravenes this requirement, as well as holding him accountable for disciplinary reasons, and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years and a fine not exceeding 500 pounds, according to Article (227) of the Penal Code.” BM
