February 12, 2026
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
Civil society activists have welcomed the new Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026, where the age limit for the marriage of both boys and girls is set to be at 18 years. The legislation was promulgated under Article 128(1) of the Constitution, by the Punjab Governor Saleem Haider Khan, while the Punjab Assembly was not in session. On Thursday, the 2026 Ordinance was notified by the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department.
The decision was greeted with a sigh of relief as human rights activists have spent years lobbying for the age of girls in particular to be raised from 16 years to 18 years. In the earlier British era Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, a child was defined as someone as under 18 for boys and under 16 for girls. Punishments for contracting or solemnising child marriages were established, though the law was weakly enforced.
Now the crime will be a non bailable offence, with those who violate it to face seven years in prison and a fine of one million rupees.
Nikah registrars are banned from registering marriages involving anyone under the age of 18 years with those violating liable to serve upto one year in jail and 100,000 rupees fine. Any adult who marries a child will face two to three years (RI) and a fine of upto 500,000 rupees. Any ‘cohabitation’ with a child – with or without their consent – after this illegal marriage will be declared as ‘child abuse’ under the law with the perpetrators facing upto five to seven years in jail and a fine of upto Rs1million.
Any trafficking linked to child marriages will also be severely fined and awarded with strict punishment. It holds guardians accountable for promoting or failing to prevent a child marriage. In such a situation the guardian will face a rigorous imprisonment of two to three years and a fine of Rs500,000.
All offences related to the child marriage, will be tried in courts of session with the cases being concluded within 90 days.
Those rules in particular that pertain to child trafficking, and cohabitation, are reminiscent of the trend of cases of forced conversions of minority girls.
Speaking to Voicepk about the issue, Naumana Suleman, founding chairperson for the Minority Women’s Forum said that the act was very relevant and connected to the issues of girls from religious minority communities. “We are seeing underage girls being illegally married through forced conversion, and abduction. If we implement this without any bias of any religion, it would be very helpful. Perhaps now, the the earlier cases of forced conversion could be ruled according to this new age limit, if properly implemented in the justice system.”
Child rights NGOs Search for Justice, the Child Rights Movement Punjab (CRM) and Children Advocacy Network (CAN), have all welcomed the notification of the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026, terming it a significant legislative advancement for child protection in the province.
“Besides the age limit, the ordinance also strengthens the penal framework by declaring child marriage a cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offence,” said Iftikhar Mubarik in a statement. “It also introduces enhanced penalties, including provisions addressing child abuse and trafficking linked to child marriage.”
Civil society coalitions, including Search for Justice, (CRM), and the CAN, have been consistently advocating for raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 years in line with constitutional guarantees and Pakistan’s international obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“This development reflects an important policy commitment toward strengthening legal safeguards for children,” said Iftikhar Mubarik, Executive Director of Search for Justice. “The establishment of 18 years as the uniform minimum age of marriage sends a clear message that child marriage will not be tolerated.”
From 1929 till 2024, no changes were made to the Punjab Act, even though a few other amendments and statutory changes were made. The idea to raise the age to 18 years for girls was met with much controversy and resistance from the religious hardliners, including some political parties, and representatives of the Council of Islamic Ideology. Recently, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of JUI(F) openly decalred that he would proudly attend a wedding of a girl under 18 years. The audacity of this remark was met with shock from civil society.
In April 2024, however a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC), Justice Shahid Karim, took note of this discrimination of age of both girls and boys and ordered the raising of the age of girls to be 18 years. “In sum, the words in section 2(a) viz. “if a male ….and if a female is under sixteen years of age” being unconstitutional are held to be without lawful authority and of no legal effect. They are struck down,” the LHC’s verdict read. It then directed the Punjab government to make amends within 15 days.
In 2024, members of the Punjab Assembly and civil-society advocates proposed further amendments to align the law with modern child-protection standards — including raising the minimum marriage age for girls to 18 and strengthening enforcement mechanisms (use of CNIC records for age verification, harsher penalties etc.).
These proposals were under consideration and debated through 2025 but had not yet become law before early 2026.
Asma Jahangir Conference
At the AJCONF this year a panel on child rights, titled “Where the Law Falls Silent: Child Marriages”, speakers made several strong points about child marriage in Pakistan
Justice Jawad Hassan of the Lahore High Court stressed that the judiciary must uphold constitutional protections and clarify legal age standards so that no parallel interpretation undermines children’s rights. Sharmila Farooqi (MNA) spoke about the legislative challenges in reforming child marriage laws — especially social and religious sensitivities that complicate declaring child marriages void or clearly illegal.
While the Ordinance is expected to be laid before the Punjab Assembly for formal enactment, the coalition emphasised that this stage provides an opportunity to further refine certain implementation safeguards. These may include explicit liability of individuals solemnising child marriages, strengthened age verification mechanisms, and enhanced child-centred protection measures to support affected children.
“Legislative reform is an important milestone, but its success will ultimately depend on effective enforcement, institutional coordination, and sustained public awareness,” Mubarik added.