The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Joint Sitting of the Parliament passed the Marriage (Amendment) Bill of Bhutan 2024, bringing a long-awaited legal clarity and gender equality to the marriageable age provision in the Marriage Act.
A year after the issue of unequal marriageable age, the House has finally passed a legal amendment to set the minimum marriageable age at 18 for both men and women, bringing Bhutan’s law in line with longstanding practice and international obligations.
Out of 65 members present, 49 voted in favour of the Bill, 14 voted against, and 2 abstained, securing the required two-thirds majority for it to become law.
The Amendment corrects the previously unequal marriageable age, 18 years for males and 16 years for females, setting it at 18 for both sexes.
Member of Parliament, Dorji Wangmo, from Kengkhar Weringla and representative of the National Commision for Women and Children (NCWC), said, “This change will bring Bhutan’s laws in line with important international agreements, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).”
The matter was first brought to national attention during the previous parliamentary session when the NCWC, strongly advocated for the legal age to be equalized. At the time, Bhutan’s Marriage Act allowed girls to marry at 16 and boys at 18, a discrepancy the NCWC argued was outdated, discriminatory, and inconsistent with Bhutan’s commitment to protecting children and promoting gender equality.
Although last year, the National Assembly agreed to change the law and set the marriage age at 18 for both sexes. However, when the Bill went to the National Council, they proposed 28 more changes. Unfortunately, the the Bill did not get approval, and the disagreement meant the Bill couldn’t move forward.
To resolve this, a Joint Committee made up of members from both Houses was formed, following Bhutan’s Constitution and rules.
The Committee met to discuss the differences. Some Council members wanted the Committee to consider all the extra changes they had proposed, but after careful discussion, the Committee decided to focus only on the most important issue, the marriageable age.
The Committee pointed out that since 1996, the age of 18 has already been followed in practice for both boys and girls. The law simply needed to be updated to reflect this, and to make sure the official text in both English and Dzongkha was clear and consistent.
The Bill will now be sent to His Majesty The Druk Gyalpo for Royal Assent, after which it will become law.
This Amendment marks an important step forward for gender equality and child protection in Bhutan, ensuring that both young men and women are treated equally under the law when it comes to marriage.
