The Uzbek authorities have significantly tightened administrative penalties for marriages involving underage individuals, as well as for conducting religious marriage ceremonies without prior state registration. A relevant law signed by the country's leadership on October 14 introduces sweeping amendments to Article 47.3 of the Administrative Responsibility Code.

Specifically, entering into actual marital relations with a person who has not reached the legal age of marriage will now incur a fine ranging from 10 to 15 base calculation units (BCUs), amounting to between 4.4 million and 6.6 million soms. Previously, the maximum penalty for this infraction was capped at 10 BCUs.

Furthermore, financial penalties have been scaled up for parents and responsible parties who arrange marriages for minors. While offenders previously faced fines of up to 15 BCUs, the new legislation establishes a harsher penalty ranging from 20 to 25 BCUs, equivalent to 8.8 million to 11 million soms. Without official civil registration, particularly among underage citizens, heavy fines of 30 to 50 BCUs—translating to 13.2 million to 22 million soms—are now officially mandated.

Notably, since September 1 of this year, the Uzbek regime has implemented a controversial financial incentive scheme wherein individuals who report violations of marriage age laws receive a payout equal to 15 percent of the imposed fine. Currently, the legal marriage age in Uzbekistan is set at 18 for both men and women, with state bodies permitted to lower this threshold by one year only under exceptional circumstances.

Source: kun.uz