The Kingdom plans to regulate the marriages of young girls, Justice Minister Mohamed Al-Issa was quoted as saying on Tuesday, after a court refused to nullify the marriage of an 8-year-old to a man 50 years her senior. The justice ministry aims “to put an end to arbitrariness by parents and guardians in marrying off minor girls,” Al-Issa told Al-Watan Arabic newspaper. The minister's comments suggested the practice of marrying off young girls would not be abolished. The regulations will seek to “preserve the rights, fending off blights to end the negative aspects of underage girls' marriage”, he said. A court in Onaiza upheld for the second time last week the marriage of the Saudi girl to a man who is about 50 years her senior, on condition he does not have sex with her until she reaches puberty. The minister added that any new regulations would be made under the provision that the requirements of universal laws were not binding to religious commandments. Officials at the ministry could not be reached for comment. Financial considerations could prompt some Saudi families to wed their underage daughters to much older men. Many Saudi clerics, including chief cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Aal Al-Sheikh, endorse the practice. “For them this is allowed by Islamic Shariah law,” lawyer Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem said. “Some (clerics) will be against this (plan) but the Justice Minister is also a cleric and a member of the Kingdom's top clerics body.” Many young girls in Arab countries that observe tribal traditions are married to older husbands but not before puberty. Such marriages are also driven by poverty in countries like Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa. The UN children's agency UNICEF on Monday expressed its “deep concern” over the Onaiza court ruling. “Irrespective of circumstances or the legal framework, the marriage of a child is a violation of that child's rights,” UNICEF's chief, Ann Veneman, said in a statement.
