Jakarta – The Constitutional Court (MK) on Tuesday rejected a judicial review of two articles in the Marriage Law, maintaining its current provisions on the minimum age requirement and interfaith marriage.

The court maintains the law's Article 7 that sets 16 years as the minimum age of marriage for women on the grounds that there is no guarantee that if the age requirement was increased to 18, as demanded by the petitioners, it would reduce divorce rates and solve health and social problems.

"All the problems, social, health and economic problems, are not merely caused by the minimum age limit as set by the Constitution," said court chief justice Arief Hidayat while delivering the verdict.

"It also doesn't mean that [by maintaining the current minimum age] we will not prevent child marriage, which brings social, health and economic problems."

The petitioners, the Women's Health Foundation (Yayasan Kesehatan Perempuan) and a coalition of five concerned women and children rights activists and organizations, were disappointed with the ruling, arguing that women under 18 years old were still considered children.

"The verdict shows that Indonesia still allows under-18-year-old children to get married. This also means allowing women to die and suffer health problem as an impact of giving birth at a child's age," the NGOs coalition on children's and women's rights said in a statement. "This country allows children to have children."

The petitioners, in their lawsuit, said that the article contradicts the Child Protection Law, which stipulates that a child is anyone less than 18 years of age. According to them, 16 years is too young for a girl to get married. They said if girls marry at that age, they might suffer health, social and economic problems because they are not psychologically ready to be mothers.

The court rejected another judicial review on the law, filed by University of Indonesia law students, concerning Article 2, which regulates interfaith marriages.

"A citizen should abide with a limit set by the Constitution when exercising his or her liberty and rights. This is done in respect and recognition of other's rights and liberty. This is also done to fulfill justice, which fits moral and religious values, security and public order in a democratic country," said Arief, who is presiding judge for the hearing.

The court also rebuffed the petitioners' argument that the article forces people to choose a specific religion as a basis of their marriage. "The law on marriage was created to regulate and defend citizens' rights and obligations in marriage," Arief said.

The law students challenged the article, which stipulates that a marriage can only be considered legitimate if it is conducted in line with the rituals of a religion to which both the bride and groom adhere.

According to the petitioners, the article is contradictory to Article 28 Point E of the Constitution, which says that everyone has the liberty to worship and practice their religion of choice.The petitioners said that the verdict means that the state would continue to deprive citizens of their rights and liberty to choose whether or not to apply provisions of religion in their marriage. "We will see more victims of the law," said Damian Agata Yuvens, one of the petitioners. (saf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/19/court-upholds-status-quo-marriage-law.html