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Germany to clamp down on polygamy, marriages involving minors
Justice minister insists no-one who goes to Germany has the right to put cultural or religious beliefs above the law
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas insisted his country would not recognise polygamy or marriages involving minors.
“No-one who comes here has the right to put his cultural values or religious beliefs above our law,” he told German newspaper Bild.
In some Islamic countries, men are allowed to take up to four wives, but in Germany polygamy is banned by law.
Concern about polygamy and underage marriage has risen recently in Germany, as the country has been taking in record numbers of migrants, many from Muslim countries.
The law in Germany is clear: no-one is allowed to be married to more than one person at a time, and that includes recent arrivals in the country.
But in practice, polygamous relationships were often quietly tolerated, the paper reported. For example, if a man died, his inheritance could be distributed between his two wives.
But Maas wants to stop authorities turning a blind eye.
“Everybody must abide by the law, no matter whether he has grown up here or has only just arrived,” he said.
This also applied to forced and underage marriages.
“We cannot tolerate forced marriages, above all, if they affect underage girls,” Maas said.
Bild reported that the federal state of Bavaria alone had registered 550 cases of brides aged under 18, and 161 under 16, among the asylum seekers that have arrived in the recent migrant wave.
In most of these cases, the young girls were already married before their arrival in Germany.
There was no clear law in Germany regarding what to do with underage marriages conducted in Muslim countries, and courts made their judgements on a case-by-case basis.
A court in the city of Bamberg recently decided that the marriage of a 15-year-old girl to a 21-year-old man, conducted under Syrian jurisdiction, could be regarded as legal in Germany.
In Germany the minimum age for marriage is 18, but it is possible for a young person aged 16 or 17 to marry, if a family court gives consent, and the other party to the marriage is at least 18.
