Judgment No. CCZ 12/2015 51 Const. Application No. 79/14 Surprisingly Mrs Zvedi for the respondents, sought to justify marriage under s 22(1) of the Marriage Act on the ground that a girl physiologically, psychologically and emotionally matures earlier than a boy. The contention is without scientific evidence to support it. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Bulletin Number 98, August 2014 states that the reason why eighteen years is specified under international human rights law and national constitutions as the minimum age for marriage, is that a person of that age is considered to be psychologically and physiologically developed enough for the responsibilities and consequences of marriage and is capable of giving free and full consent to marriage. As a matter of fact the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Children gives the rationale for international human rights law setting eighteen years as the minimum age for marriage, as being that a girl aged below 18 years is invariably, physically, physiologically and psychologically immature to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage and child bearing. The horrific consequences of child marriage are clear testimony to the flaw in the respondents’ argument. It is important to recall the comment by the CEDAW Committee in General Recommendation 21 para. 38 to the effect that s 22(1) of the Marriage Act assumed, incorrectly that girls have a different rate of intellectual development from boys or that their stage of physical and intellectual development at marriage is immaterial. The respondents failed to appreciate that it is not the circumstance or condition of the child that is the determinant factor when the effect of s 78(1) of the Constitution on legislation is considered. Section 78(1) has the effect of protecting every child equally