(2017) 1 African Human Rights Yearbook 137 Secondly, specifying the minimum age for marriage to be 18 years for both boys and girls is not an issue that the Charter leaves room for negotiation. The use of the instructive ‘shall’ in relation to specifying the minimum age at 18 years is a testament to this assertion.61 This stands in clear contrast with the Joint General Recommendation 31/ Comment of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/General Comment 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices (2014). In this Joint General Recommendation/Comment an exception to the age 18 is provided.62 Thirdly, the requirement to make ‘registration of all marriages in an official registry compulsory’ is relevant from both the prevention and addressing of child marriages. Official registries for marriages usually have in-built age verification processes. This requirement is also critical for the African continent whereby religious (such as Christian, Muslim and Hindu marriages), and customary/traditional marriages are recognised by the laws, sometimes the Constitutions, of State parties to the African Children’s Rights Charter.63 For instance, as an anecdote, a mission to Niger64 in 2016 by the Special Rapporteur of the African Union on Ending Child Marriage has been informed that the requirement by the municipal officials asking the bride and groom to kiss in public during the marriage ceremony has been identified as a barrier for the formal registration of marriages. It should be viewed as falling within the obligation to undertake ‘all appropriate measures’ that such barriers as the requirement to kiss in public be addressed with a view to encourage registration of all marriages as required by the Charter. The notable impact of article 21 has been to spur legislation on the continent prohibiting and addressing child marriage,65 even though legislative standards that still leave room for exceptions for marriage to 61 The so-called ‘love marriages’, where children themselves decide to marry, finds no solace in the provisions of the Charter. 62 The relevant part, para 20 of the Joint General Recommendation/Comment reads ‘[a]s a matter of respecting the child’s evolving capacities and autonomy in making decisions that affect her or his life, a marriage of a mature, capable child below 18 years of age may be allowed in exceptional circumstances, provided that the child is at least 16 years of age and that such decisions are made by a judge based on legitimate exceptional grounds defined by law and on the evidence of maturity, without deference to culture and tradition’. 63 Since what is required is the mere registration, and not necessarily a requirement to conduct all marriages through the formal state non-religious or non-traditional manner, it still accommodates those cultural or religious diversities prevalent throughout the continent. 64 Notably, Niger has one of the highest numbers of child marriages on the continent. 65 See, for instance, Egypt, the Child Law 126 (2008) article 31; Eritrea, Transitional Civil Code article 581 as amended by article 46 of Proclamation 1/1991; The Gambia, The Children’s Act (2005), sections 2(1) and 24; Ghana, Children’s Act (1998) includes in section 13 the right not to be betrothed, be a subject of a dowry transaction, or be married, while below the age of 18.