The Role of Marriage Law in Optimizing the Protection of Children's Rights

This study aims to analyze the role of marriage law in protecting children's rights and identify factors that affect the effectiveness of its implementation in the field. This study uses a juridical-sociological approach with a descriptive-analytical nature. Data was obtained through literature studies on laws and regulations and scientific literature, as well as field research through interviews with related parties. The results of the study show that although marriage law normatively regulates parents' obligations to children, its implementation still faces various obstacles, such as unrecorded marriage practices, weak enforcement of court decisions related to child support, low awareness of family law, and disharmony between state law, Islamic law, and social practices. In addition, the principle of the best interests of children has not been fully internalized in the practice of marriage law. This study concludes that optimizing the protection of children's rights through marriage law requires strengthening systemic legal implementation, increasing public legal awareness, and integrating the values of maqāṣid al-syarī'ah as the foundation for the benefit of children. This research is expected to make a theoretical and practical contribution to the development of family law and child protection policies in Indonesia