Rabat – Morocco’s Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Moulay El Hassan Daki emphasized the prevalence of child marriage in Morocco despite efforts to end the practice.
On Monday in Marrakech, Daki said the marriage of minors continues to be a “very topical” issue in Morocco due to its direct impact on children’s rights.
Daki said that Morocco is in “perfect harmony” with its international commitments regarding the phenomenon.
He also noted that the North African country has changed its national legislation and set the age of marital capacity at 18.
Despite the provisions, Moroccan courts continue to record a surge of child marriage requests across the country.
Official statistics said that the courts received approximately 27,623 requests for child marriage in 2019.
In Morocco, judges are allowed to approve underage marriages, considering the “supreme interests” of young girls.
In response to the increase of child marriage requests, he said that magistrates are not responsible for the alarming figures of requests for the authorization to marry minors.
Meanwhile, legal officials are “responsible for the number of authorizations granted, which concerns us all, and obliges us not to empty this exceptional legislative authorization of its content.”
The official emphasized that the phenomenon requires shared responsibility, emphasizing that the situation calls on all actors working in the field of the protection of the rights of children to intensify their efforts to put an end to this social phenomenon.
“Underage marriage constitutes a social phenomenon, where the social, economic, religious, and cultural dimensions interfere,” he argued.
