Portugal raises minimum marriage age to 18
The minimum age for a young person to marry in Portugal has been raised to 18, after President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa authorized the decree of the Assembly of the Republic banning the marriage of minors, reports LUSA.
Until now, the minimum age for marriage was 16, although parental consent was required if the couple was between 16 and 18 years old.
In late February, Portugal's Assembly raised the minimum age for marriage to 18 and removed references to emancipation from legislation.
De Sousa put into effect the decree prohibiting child marriage and classifying it as a dangerous situation that requires intervention to protect the rights of children and young people.
The decree, approved on February 20, also includes a transitional rule for marriages contracted before the law came into force, it reports.
KosovaPress.
The law states that "child marriages, early or forced marriages, or similar unions, where a person under the age of 18 lives with another person in conditions similar to those of spouses, regardless of whether they were forced to enter into such a union, regardless of their cultural, ethnic or national origin."
