A Ministry of Justice motion to amend the Civil Code and set the legal age for marriage at 18 has been passed by an interdepartment committee and is expected to be forwarded soon to the Executive Yuan for approval.
The motion states that the current age of majority — 20 years old — was set 91 years ago and is not applicable to modern society.
The age of majority for criminal and administrative penalties is set at 18 years old, and only the Civil Code still sets it at 20, it says.
The amendment would unify the age of majority across different sets of laws and make it the same as 170 nations worldwide, the ministry said.
Article 980 of the Civil Code states that males and females cannot marry before they turn 18 and 16 respectively, while Article 973 states that males and females cannot be engaged before 17 and 15 respectively.
The proposed amendment would allow men and women to marry at the age of 18 and could set the engagement age at 17, the Executive Yuan said.
This would allow men and women to decide for themselves whether they want to be married at the age of 18, or get engaged at 17 without having to get the consent of their parents or guardians, the Executive Yuan said.
Executive Yuan officials said the decision to raise the engagement age for females stemmed from concern that agreeing to such an arrangement might affect their right to study or to work.
Civic groups applauded the motion and urged the Executive Yuan to swiftly pass the amendment so that it could be entered into the roster for debate at the Legislative Yuan.
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