Marriage age

4allweknow

Scotland is age 16. Though still regarded as a child for any misdemeanour until 18 and that is proposed to be raised to 24 as apparently until then people are not able to understand consequences of their actions. How does that fit in with age of consent for sex; marriage; voting; joining forces and goodness knows what else. I can see the need for trying to tackle forced marriages in raising age but aren't the parents often involved in those actions. Will the young be brave enough not to conform to parents wishes?

I believe that if the defendant is under 25, the court is supposed to consider their background and history when sentencing, and determine whether prison might increase their future criminality rather than cure it, as young offenders are more likely to be both "going through a phase" and influenced by the people they will meet in prison. That is not quite the same as not being able to understand the consequences of their actions, and is a sensible way of finding the best way to treat a young offender without automatically exposing him/her to the company and example of "old lags".

"Some mistakenly thought we were proposing that no one under 25 should receive a custodial sentence or that those aged 18 to 24 should be dealt with by the children’s hearings system rather than the courts.

The guideline which we will soon submit to the High Court has been restructured to make it clearer at which point the courts should consider separate matters and why. It also gives more clarity on how the impact on victims is to be taken in account and provides clearer guidance on how the assessment of a young person’s maturity bears on culpability

In other key respects we have decided against making changes to the guideline. It will continue to require courts to take an individualised approach when sentencing a young person, taking into account their personal circumstances; it will state that rehabilitation should be a primary consideration when sentencing a young person; and it will apply to all people under the age of 25"
Rt Hon Lady Dorrian, Lord Justice Clerk and Chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council
www.scottishsentencingcouncil.org.uk/media/2142/final-ssc-report-on-sentencing-young-people-public-consultation.pdf

Callistemon21

Blondiescot

Elizabeth27

Marriage is a legal contract, in that there are laws when it come to divorce,I have never understood how under 18s can make a legal contract.

You can join the army at 16...

But cannot be deployed to an area of conflict until 18.

Only too well aware of that - my son was deployed to Afghanistan at 18.

Callistemon21

^You can join the army at 16^ ...
But only with parental consent.

Our son wanted to join the Royal Marines. Both parents signatures were required. Neither of us signed. He stayed at school, took and passed 3 A-levels and joined the Marines at 19.

You can join the army at 16 ...
But only with parental consent.

Blondiescot

Elizabeth27

Marriage is a legal contract, in that there are laws when it come to divorce,I have never understood how under 18s can make a legal contract.

You can join the army at 16...

But cannot be deployed to an area of conflict until 18.

As a mother of 4 my lot were still getting the school bus at
16. I wouldn't have wished marriage for any of them at that
age, neither they nor myself (at 16) was mature enough to
cope.

There is quite a difference between an arranged and a forced marriage. It is important to recognise that.

I was painfully shy and immature, in my youth. I didn't even have a date with a boy until I was 18, and he was a friend of my cousin's, met at a wedding.
Even at 21 I had no idea. I finally married at 24, but naively thought that he would 'settle down', once married. I was wrong, but we stayed together for 52 years, until his death 6 years ago.
I regret marrying when I was still immature, even at 24.
Some of my schoolmates were definitely mature enough, though, at 16!

Its good news.
But don't traveller's children get married at 16?
Will that now change? Expect it'll have to if it becomes law.

Elizabeth27

Marriage is a legal contract, in that there are laws when it come to divorce,I have never understood how under 18s can make a legal contract.

You can join the army at 16...

School leaving age in England is 18 unless in college or on an apprenticeship. Would this have something to do with it?
The law is not the same in Scotland.

Marriage is a legal contract, in that there are laws when it come to divorce,I have never understood how under 18s can make a legal contract.

welbeck

for those two posters who say it is a bad thing, can you say more ?
i agree that years ago it was a disgrace to be pregnant/give birth without being married.
but that has not been the case for nearly 40 years.
so what would be the harm of having to wait until age 18 to marry, even if pregnant ?

Yep. I was pregnant at 16 with the 22 year old man who was my very dear first love, and was due to marry him as a result - we both wanted to be together and both welcomed the baby, but wouldn't have married that soon if I had not been pregnant.

Very sadly, I had a fairly early miscarriage. I clearly remember the gynaecologist who spoke to me afterwards saying that she was used to people my age breaking down because they WERE pregnant, not because they suddenly weren't.

That man and I didn't marry as I'd lost the baby, but stayed together for several years. We did split in the end as he wanted a life as a musician and I was so immature in that direction that I was jealous of the time he spent on his music and musician friends. However I remain convinced that if we'd married and had the baby, we'd have made a family life and stayed happily together.

I did have a son when I was a few years older, but the relationship with his father was kind of doomed from the beginning as we had totally incompatible beliefs and goals.

(I was very lucky - I went on to meet my truly wonderful late husband when I was 37, and I adore him still.)

Like Greyduster I had to formally apply, in writing, aged 29, for permission to marry from my Captain, I was in the RN. It was a bit of a formality, but he gave me a glass of whisky and wished me good luck.

patrish

Victorian times??That was still the law in the 60s before the voting age became 18

This has already been discussed and as I said I posted about Victorian times because I had seen it whilst doing family history. I couldn't remember what the situation was re. parental consent in the 1960s.

I don't know about the marriageable ages but I do know, aged 22 I could not sign emigration papers for NewZealand. My husband or father had to give their consent until I was 25. That was in the 1960s.

At last, some common sense. We had to 'hide' and supervise a 16-year-old at college - she was terrified her uncle would snatch her, drug her, then take her abroad to be married! If anything changes the idea that forced marriage is acceptable, I'm all in favour.

JaneJudge

I think teenagers are far more sensible these days about consent and the law surrounding sex.

do you really think so ?
what about the widescale pressuring of girls into unwanted sexual activity, sexting etc.
schoolgirls i mean, usually by schoolboys.

I'm not sure what is meant by that - the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is 12?

patrish

Victorian times??That was still the law in the 60s before the voting age became 18

Sorry, patrish I see you said that already

I should RTWT ?

^Scotland is age 16. Though still regarded as a child for any misdemeanour until 18 and that is proposed to be raised to 24 as apparently until then people are not able to understand consequences of their actions.

So should they be voting at 16 in Scotland if they are not able to understand consequences of their actions?

Chestnut

Here's a little bit of history. I believe back in Victorian times you needed parental consent to marry under the age of 21.

I'm sure you still did in the 1960s

Wow was it , my grandmother had three children by that age in the late 1920s

Victorian times??That was still the law in the 60s before the voting age became 18

Whilst they’re at it perhaps they should follow the Americans and put the legal drinking age up to 21. It is a drug after all.

I think teenagers are far more sensible these days about consent and the law surrounding sex.