The government will remove the rule that allows for 16 and 17 year olds to apply for a discretionary waiver to marry.
‘I want the 18 year age limit for marriages in Norway to be absolute. Although there are very few under the age of 18 who have been granted a dispensation to marry in Norway in recent years, this ban will send a significant signal abroad that we do not accept minors getting married,’ said Solveig Horne, the Fremskrittsparti (Frp) Minister for Children and Equality.
In the past, both Høyre (H) and Arbeiderpartiet (Arp) have agreed to remove the exemption.
In order for minors to enter into marriage under the current rules, the parents, and the county governor must give permission. Last year, none of the county councils received any applications.
Foreign marriage
The government also proposed tightening, and clarifying the rules for the approval of foreign marriages.
‘The rules for the approval of foreign marriages are complicated, and it has been unclear where the limits are for eligibility of these marriages under Norwegian law,’ the government wrote.
Youth mobilised
‘We congratulate the politicians in Norway, who have now agreed to change the Marriage Act so that under no circumstances can children get married in Norway,’ said Secretary General, Kjell Erik Øie, of Plan International Norway.
‘We in Plan are proud of the thousands of young people who have mobilised for collecting signatures, and organisingwhat can be said to be one of the most successful lobbying campaigns in modern Norwegian history. Now Norway can argue with credibility for changes in countries where child marriage is a major problem’, he continued.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
