The Law Reform Commission (LRC) will be amending the acts that deal with children. Presenting their activities at the budget hearing, yesterday, the LRC Secretary, Maynard Timbo, said that there are several laws giving different ages.
He said that they are amending the laws for two reasons; one which has to do with the lacuna in the various legislations, Sections 34(1)-(3) of the Child Rights Act 2007: reads, the minimum age of marriage of whatever kind shall be eighteen years.
Sections 2(2) and (3) of the Registration of Customary Marriages and Divorces Act 2009: says where, either of the prospective spouses… is less than eighteen years, it shall be necessary for the parents to give consent to the marriage and (4) states that a person below the age of 18 is not capable of giving consent.
Sections 7(2) and Section 8 of the Christian Marriage Act, Cap 95 of the Laws of Sierra Leone, say no marriage may be celebrated under the provisions of this Act – between persons… under the age of twenty-one years…”
The Child Rights Act makes provisions for a girl to get married at 18 years.
Section 2 of the Muslim Marriage Act, Cap 96 of the Laws of Sierra Leone: does not give any specific age, but states that, every marriage entered into and subsisting between persons professing the Muslim faith… shall be valid for all civil purposes.”
Timbo said that because of all these contradictions with the different laws they decided to come up with one law – the age of 18-years and that anybody who falls foul of that law will be taken to court.
“We noticed that child marriage is rampant. That is why the commission took upon itself to review the laws and the other reason is on medical grounds.”
According to UNICEF Statistics 2016 on Sierra Leone, it stated that 13% of Sierra Leonean girls get married before the age 15 and 39% of girls get married before the age of 18.
He went on to say that they are looking at other laws that will help in revitalizing the economy. “We need to diversify the review of the laws. In 2016 we identified five key projects to revamp the economy. We know the status of the laws regarding the health. They are very old and archaic laws on the health sector, which is as old as 1960,” he said.
Timbo said that there is need to reform the labour laws, which he says have several problems. The land laws are also being reviewed.
“We are reviewing and reforming all laws on tourism, which is almost a dead sector,” he said.
The laws of Sierra Leone are currently being updated. “We know all our laws are old. Unfortunately, some of these laws, when reviewed are never taken from the books. At the end of the day, we will get a compendium of revised laws and the potential outcome will be beneficial to legal experts, judiciary, researchers and the public at large.”
He said a significant number of ministries, departments and agencies are operating under very old legislation, which no longer provide them with appropriate operating frameworks.
ZJ/24/8/17
By Zainab Joaque
Friday August 25, 2017.
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