Legal age you can get married in Scotland could change – here's why

Scottish Sun

09-07-2025

The Government will consider raising limit amid claims by campaigners that freedom to marry at 16 leaves girls vulnerable to grooming and coercion
ALTAR-ING LAW Legal age you can get married in Scotland could change – here's why
The Scottish government has now confirmed it will consult on raising the age of marriage and civil partnership from 16 to 18 - bringing it in line with England and Wales.
Marriage laws in Scotland allow those aged 16-17 to marry without parental consent.
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The Scottish Government intend to consult on raising the age of marriage and civil partnership from 16 to 18 - bringing it in line with England and Wales.
Credit: Getty
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Current laws north of the border allow those aged 16-17 to marry without parental consent.
Credit: Alamy
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Campaigners say freedom to marry at 16 leaves girls vulnerable to grooming and coercion
Credit: Alamy
The proposed consideration follows a 2023 law change south of the border, where the UK Conservative government increased the minimum age to 18. Previously 16 and 17-year-olds could marry with parental consent.
For centuries, the legal differences between Scotland and England drew couples to Gretna, just a few miles north of the border, to defy their parents and tie the knot.
In the 18th century, when English law forbade marriage under 21 without parental permission, Scotland permitted boys of 14 and girls of 12 to wed.
The formal consultation on the new legislation was confirmed in a written answer to Ash Regan, an Alba MSP and a vocal campaigner for increasing the marriage age.
Ministers will also consider making any attempt to cause a person under 18 to marry a criminal offence.
Unicef - the United Nations agency providing humanitarian and development aid to children worldwide - defines child marriage as 'any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child', therefore considers it a violation of human rights.
Legal experts note that Scotland is an outlier in the developed world for allowing marriage from 16 without parental consent.
Ash Regan said: 'Child marriage is a hidden crime, but I am concerned that it is very much a live issue in Scotland.
'In Scotland, the legal age is 16 and no parental consent is needed.
"Campaigners have previously highlighted that this leaves girls vulnerable to grooming and coercion.
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"I want to see new safeguards to prevent coerced marriages for under-18s, to protect their childhoods and their life chances.'
Data from the National Records of Scotland shows a steep fall in teenage marriages.
In 1974, there were 3,780 marriages where at least one partner was 16 or 17. By 2022, that number had dropped to just 18.
Siobhian Brown, the Scottish government's community justice minister, said: 'As part of our considerations on the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership, we have engaged with a wide range of organisations and interested individuals in order to gather views and evidence.'
The Scottish Conservatives said: 'We would urge SNP ministers to do the same given similar laws are already in place elsewhere in the UK.'
Scottish Labour and the Greens have made no comment.
Rob Clucas, a family law expert at Edinburgh Napier University, said: 'Forced marriage is a global evil that disproportionately affects young women in different-sex marriages, and it should be eradicated.
'Forced marriages do occur in Scotland, as does early marriage and civil partnership — though these phenomena are not identical, and it is not clear how harmful early marriage or civil partnership is in Scotland, it may sometimes be neutral or beneficial.'
He added: 'Research is needed to establish this. If we take our young people's autonomy seriously — and we should, for 16 and 17-year-olds in Scotland are not children — we ought to be wary of infringing their rights, even temporarily.'
A Scottish government spokesman said: 'While statistics show that marriages involving under-18s are rare in Scotland, as previously announced, we intend to consult on whether the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership should be raised from 16 to 18.
'The consultation, which will be published this autumn, will also consider extending the existing forced marriage offence to criminalise any attempt to cause a person under 18 to enter a marriage or civil partnership, regardless of whether coercion can be proven.
'This responds to a recommendation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that Scotland should prohibit marriages involving under-18s to protect young people.'
Marriage laws vary across Europe - with countries including Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden not permitting marriage under 18, while others allow for exceptions with parental or public authority consent. In Estonia, the minimum age for marriage is 15.