Bill to raise Christians’ marriage age to 18 moved before Punjab Assembly panel

LAHORE: A private member’s bill seeking to increase the minimum marriage age for Christians to 18 has been placed before the Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Minority Affairs.

The proposed law, titled the Christian Marriage Act Bill, 2026, was submitted on Thursday by Falbus Christopher, who chairs the standing committee. The measure aims to amend long-standing legal provisions that, have created documentation problems for many Christian couples, leaving numerous marriages unrecognised by union councils and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

Under the proposed legislation, the minimum age for marriage would be set at 18 for both men and women. The existing law sets the age at 16 for boys and 13 for girls.

The bill also proposes a change in the eligibility criteria for marriages solemnised under the law. It says both the bride and groom must be Christian. The current legal framework requires only one of the two parties to be Christian.

Registration and documentation changes

A key feature of the bill is the formal inclusion of Christian marriage certificates in the official government record system. If enacted, union councils and Nadra would be legally required to register such marriages. This had not been possible under the 1872 law currently in force.

The proposed change is expected to help Christian couples obtain legal protections, inheritance-related rights and official identity documents, areas where many had faced administrative difficulties because of gaps in documentation.

Changes to ceremony rules and officiants

The bill also seeks to remove older restrictions governing wedding ceremonies. Among them is the prohibition on holding weddings after 6pm. The proposed law would allow families to hold ceremonies at any time of the day or on any day.

It further broadens the category of people authorised to solemnise Christian marriages. At present, this authority is limited to the Catholic and Church of England denominations. Under the new bill, any pastor from a government-registered church who has graduated from a recognised theological seminary would be allowed to solemnise marriages.

Definition of marriage

Another amendment in the bill relates to the legal wording used to define marriage. The proposed legislation describes marriage as a union between a man and a woman, replacing the phrase two persons used in the older British-era law.

The bill has now been submitted to the Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Minority Affairs for consideration.