Abstract

The issue of marriages contracted by minors is currently the subject of particular attention by certain European legal systems. Following the intensification of transnational movements of individuals and families, and with a view to guarantee an ever-increasing level of protection of the fundamental rights of the individual (especially in the case of minors, whose ‘best interest’ must overcome any other consideration at stake in the balancing), some EU Member States have approved reforms aimed at restricting as much as possible the possibility of recognising marriages legitimately contracted abroad by minors. The issue is dealt with from the point of view of the protection of minors’ rights and from the private international law one as well. This double-standard approach demonstrates how a ‘closing attitude’, if implemented a priori and regardless of case-by-case approach, risks to somewhat prejudice the principle of international portability of family status, whilst not necessarily guaranteeing, at the same time, a real protection of those interests that are supposed to be protected.