Andorra

There is no publicly available government data on child marriage in Andorra.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.

There is very limited information on child marriage in Andorra.

Andorra has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review at any High-Level Political Forum to date.

Andorra co-sponsored the 2017 Human Rights Council resolution recognising the need to address child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian contexts, the 2015 Human Rights Council resolution to end child, early and forced marriage, recognising that it is a violation of human rights, and the 2013 Human Rights Council resolution on child, early and forced marriage. In 2014, Andorra also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Andorra co-sponsored the 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

Andorra ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1996, which sets a minimum age of marriage of 18, and acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1997, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

During its 2013 review, the CEDAW Committee raised concerns that the legal minimum age for marriage in Andorra is 14 for girls and boys. It recommended raising it to 18 years. During its 2019 review, the CEDAW Committee reiterated its concerns regarding the minimum age of marriage and recommended Andorra to raise it to 18 years in line with international standards.

During its 2015 Universal Periodic Review, Andorra supported recommendations to ensure strong legislative protection for children, including by increasing the minimum age for marriage to 18.

Andorra has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence (known as the Istanbul Convention), which considers forced marriage a serious form of violence against women and girls, and legally binds state parties to criminalise the intentional conduct of forcing an adult or child into a marriage.

Under Article 18 of the Civil Code 2013 the legal age of marriage is 16 years. However, the Andorran government and parliament are working towards raising the minimum age to 18 years of age. Raising the minimum legal age for marriage was raised during the 2019 CEDAW concluding observations of Andorra.

However, legal exceptions allow for marriage at 14 years of age for both girls and boys.