Judgment No. CCZ 12/2015 30 Const. Application No. 79/14 It was in the context of the omissions and exceptions in the provisions of international human rights law that the Marriage Act was enacted. Section 22(1) of the Marriage Act prohibited marriage of a boy under the age of eighteen and of a girl under the age of sixteen except with the written permission of the Minister when he or she considered such marriage desirable. The written permission which was intended to be granted prior to solemnization of the marriage could be granted after the solemnization where the Minister considered the marriage desirable and in the interests of the parties concerned. Section 22(1) of the Marriage Act clearly permitted marriage of a girl who had attained the age of sixteen years. Section 20(1) required that consent in writing be given to the solemnization of the marriage by the legal guardians of the girl. Legal guardian was defined to include the mother of the girl where she and the father of the minor were living together lawfully as husband and wife or were divorced or were living apart and the sole guardianship of the minor had not been granted to either of them by order of the High Court or judge thereof. Consent to marriage could be granted by a judge of the High Court where the consent of the legal guardian could not be obtained by reason of absence, or inaccessibility or by reason of his or her being under any disability. Section 21(1) of the Marriage Act provided that where a marriage which required the consent of a legal guardian or legal guardians had been solemnized without such consent, it became a valid marriage if within a period of six weeks calculated from the date on which a legal guardian or legal guardians first had notice of such marriage, he or she or they did not make an application to the High Court for an order setting aside the marriage and declaring it void.