423 individuals under 18 married in Tajikistan

During the first six months of this year in Tajikistan, 423 individuals under the age of 18 received the legal right to marry by court order. This was announced by the Deputy Chairman of the country's Supreme Court at a press conference held in Dushanbe on July 23. Abduqahhor Taghozoda stated.

According to him, during the reporting period, courts reviewed 503 applicationsto lower the marriage age. Of these, 423 were granted, while 49 were rejected. The remaining applications were processed in accordance with established legal procedures.

According to officials, the number of such applications has decreased significantly compared to the same period last year. For example, in the first half of 2025, courts received 1,376 applications to lower the marriage age. However, no official data was provided on how many of those were approved at that time.

The Supreme Court reported that applications for lowering the marriage age were mainly justified by difficult financial conditions, orphanhood, or the necessity of starting a family .

Abduqahhor Taghozoda emphasized that if there is confidence that the marriage will serve to improve the social situation of the young person, the court may, as an exception within the framework of the law, make a decision to lower the marriage age.

At the same time, officials did not clarify how many girls and boys were among the applicants.

The Supreme Court representative also acknowledged that early marriages are one of the factors affecting the number of divorces in the country. In his opinion, because young people are often not fully prepared for the responsibilities of family life, such marriages may not last long.

Therefore, courts have been advised to examine each case individually when granting permission for marriage to minors, taking into account whether such a decision will truly improve their social status and contribute to the formation of a stable family in the future.

However, experts point out that criteria such as "improving social status" and "strengthening the future family" remain open questions regarding how they are assessed in practice.

According to data from the Committee on Women and Family Affairs of Tajikistan, in the first half of 2026, there were 27,563 marriages registered in the country. This figure is 2,793 less than in the same period last year.