A/HRC/26/22 6. A forced marriage is any marriage which occurs without the full and free consent of one or both of the parties and/or where one or both of the parties is/are unable to end or leave the marriage, including as a result of duress or intense social or family pressure. III. International legal framework A. Right to enter into marriage with free and full consent 7. International human rights treaties guarantee the right of all individuals to enter into marriage with the free and full consent of both parties. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in its article 23, paragraph 3, provides for this right, as does the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its article 10, paragraph 1. The Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration for Marriages in its article 1 provides that this consent must be expressed by both parties in person and in the presence of a competent authority.7 Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women obligates States to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, inter alia, the same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have both stressed the importance of additional legal safeguards to protect the right of all individuals to freely enter into marriage, even in plural legal systems which include both customary and statutory laws. A number of regional instruments also stipulate that marriage may only be entered into with the free and full consent of both parties.8 8. The Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (Supplementary Convention) obligates States to undertake all “practicable and necessary legislative and other measures” to bring about the abolition or abandonment of various institutions and practices which amount to forced marriage, such as promising or giving a woman in marriage, where she does not have the right to refuse, following payment to her parents, guardians, family or another person or group; the right of a husband, his family or clan to transfer his wife to another person for value received or for any other reason; and the inheriting by another person of a woman on the death of her husband.9 As discussed under Section V, forced marriage can under certain circumstances amount to slavery and slavery-like practices. B. Child marriage 9. Article 16, paragraph 2, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women provides that “the betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect.” The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child also prohibits both child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys and requires that legislative and other measures be taken to protect their rights.10 The Committee on the Rights of the 7 8 9 10 4 General Assembly resolution 1763 A (XVII). Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003), art. 6 (a); South African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development (2008), art. 8, para. 2 (b); Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Human Rights Declaration (2012), art. 19; American Convention on Human Rights (1969), art. 17 (3). Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, art. 1. African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999), art. 2.