Lawyers To Debate Motion To Abolish Child Marriages

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The Malaysian Bar is to discuss a proposal to ask the government to ban child marriages.KUALA LUMPUR: A motion to stop the practice of child marriages has been filed for debate at the 74th annual general meeting of the Malaysian Bar today
The motion was proposed by G Srividhya and Ajeet Kaur and seconded by 82 lawyers
The motion, sighted by FMT, says the duo, who are co-chairmen of the Bar’s Child Rights Committee, want the government to enact a federal law to abolish such practice
It wants to raise the legal age of marriage to 18 years for all
The resolution calls for providing protection to children born out of such unions
It also wants the government to take immediate proactive steps and measures to advocate and ensure that the public is educated and advised that child marriages are medically, socially and economically harmful to children and society
Early this year, former attorney-general Tommy Thomas said the Pakatan Harapan government was looking into a proposal to increase the minimum age of marriage for Muslims from 16 to 18
He said it was also looking into introducing more stringent procedures for shariah court judges to take into account before allowing those below 18 to enter into marriage
However, a new government, Perikatan Nasional, was formed on March 1 following the appointment of Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister
Meanwhile, Bar secretary Salim Bashir, in the notice to call the AGM, said the event would begin at 10am at Dewan San Choon in Wisma MCA despite the Covid-19 threat
“Section 64(1) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 states we must convene the AGM before the first day of April,” he said
He said security personnel would carry out screening and anyone with a body temperature of more than 38 degrees Celsius would not be permitted to enter the premises
The quorum for the AGM is 500 and if the number is not met at 11am, the meeting shall be adjourned to 11.15am on the same day and at the same venue. FMT

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