Analysis of the High Number of Child Marriages with the Enactment of Law Number 16 of 2019

Marriage is supposed to make family life happy and successful, however in reality, child marriage remains a serious problem in Indonesia, especially before the enactment of Law Number 16 of 2019 concerning Amendments to Law Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage. This study aims to analyze whether the provisions on the minimum age for marriage in Article 7 paragraph (1) of Law Number 1 of 1974 are one of the factors contributing to the high rate of child marriage, additionally to examine the effectiveness of changes to the minimum age for marriage from the perspective of Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism Theory. The research method used is normative legal research with a regulatory and conceptual approach. The analysis was conducted on various regulations related to marriage, child protection, marriage dispensation mechanisms, as well as secondary data from the Central Statistics Agency and previous research results. The results of the study show that the difference in the minimum age for marriage between men and women in regulations prior to 2019 contributed to the significant amount of child marriages. Although the change in the age limit to 19 years for both men and women is expected to reduce the number of child marriages, the practice of marriage dispensations still has the potential to undermine the objectives of this regulation. From the perspective of Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism Theory, the policy of raising the minimum age for marriage is in line with the principle of utility because it provides greater benefits to society, including reproductive health protection, reduced risk of maternal and child mortality, improved quality of education, and better family quality. Conversely, marriage dispensations tend to have a predominantly negative impact compared to their benefits. Strict restrictions on marriage dispensations are necessary to achieve the welfare and happiness of society at large.