Opposition Senator Wade Mark yesterday called on Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to defer the Miscellaneous Provisions (Marriage) Bill 2016 to allow civil society groups and religious bodies to give their views on amendments to the legislation.
Mark said that even though the bill was being debated in the Senate, the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha and other religious groups were not consulted and “people were now threatening to take this matter to court.”
Having examined the bill, Mark said the United National Congress (UNC) had issue with the $50,000 fine and seven year imprisonment proposed in the bill to be “draconian, oppressive and excessive.”
Clause 27 (b) of the bill states that a person who wilfully and knowingly solemnise the marriage of a person who is under the age 18, commits an offence and is liable on conviction and indictment to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment of seven years.
Mark said the AG will make decisions on several sections of the Marriage Act, Hindu Marriage Act, Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act and the Orisha Act for thousands of citizens and “table those regulations in Parliament” which the UNC was against “since peoples’ rights were being infringed by this piece of legislation,” Mark said in his contribution to the debate in the Senate.
Mark said the UNC had taken issue with children being married at the age of 12 and its leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had clearly outlined its position on the rights of women, girls and boys in May 2016.
He said the UNC felt that whether by tradition or circumstances that child marriages should not be permitted by society or allowed to continue and it was their “intention to renew the process of consultation” which began under the People’s Partnership administration “to ensure that this position is supported by statute,” since the issue affected a large section of society.
In renewing the UNC’s position, Mark called on the Government to provide the Children’s Authority with resources to protect children from statutory rape.
“So let me make it clear that the UNC, as it relates to contract marriage, is committed to what the Attorney General put in the legislation as 18 years and over.”
With regards to contract of marriage, Mark said the UNC has proposed “18 years….but we have an exception. With the consent of the parents, judge, the involvement of the child and with the provision of legal aid if they do not have the means.”
However, Mark said children “between 16 and under 18 must be given that right once there is parental consent...once there is judicial involvement…once there is counselling involved…once there is the child…the child must have a say.”
He said parents who do not have the financial capacity must be given an opportunity through Legal Aid. “That is a reasonable position by the UNC.”
Stating that if the bill was not passed soon the country would not face any sanctions, Mark advised the Government “to take its time and have this matter referred to a body that is well established under our Standing Orders so that there can be the hearing of the views of different organisations and individual interest groups.”
Mark said while Al-Rawi held consultations before he piloted the bill, he needed to give the Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Orisha groups “a special place in your consultation to ensure that their views are properly considered. You cannot bring them an audience packed with a number of civil organisations and give them an opportunity to be consulted.”
