Morocco to Raise Legal Marriage Age to 18 in Family Code Overhaul

These reforms are the result of a consultation process led by the Committee in charge of revising the Code. On Monday, at the Royal Palace in Casablanca, King Mohammed VI presided over a working session devoted to this issue. The Committee presented the Sovereign with a detailed report, the fruit of its work, containing more than 100 proposals for amendments. The most notable one sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years. An exception will allow marriage at 17 years, subject to strict conditions being met. This provision will thus put an end to the marriages of girls aged 15 or 16, a practice that had drawn strong criticism.

Regarding polygamy, the amendments made to the Code aim to limit its practice. From now on, a woman will be able to demand, in her marriage contract, that her husband commit to not taking another wife. By signing, the husband will thereby renounce the benefits related to polygamy. Without this clause, polygamy will remain possible, but only in specific cases: the infertility of the first wife or a disease preventing her from having conjugal relations. The judge will retain discretionary power of appreciation in these exceptional situations.