93. In regard to compulsory education, Act No. 686, which was promulgated on 16 March 1998, includes an article amending a previous provision. The new provision now reads as follows:

"Education shall be free and compulsory in the initial primary stage and is a right of every Lebanese person of primary school age. The conditions for such free compulsory education shall be determined by a decree adopted by the Council of Ministers, as shall its regulation."

81. In regard to the conditions for marriage, puberty or the age at which men and women acquire the physiological capacity for reproduction is regarded as an essential condition. The actual age of puberty, however, cannot be determined in advance, as it varies in accordance with individual characteristics. Most legislative acts therefore deliberately specify a technical age for puberty which is higher than the actual age. The authorities are then permitted to licence marriage before that age in exceptional cases. The age at which marriage may be licensed is determined by a number of considerations, including physiological capacity and the general social customs and traditions of the two spouses and their families, including their educational attainment.

82. On this subject, the position adopted in the personal status laws of the different confessional groups can be summarized as follows:

83. In all the personal status laws, mutual consent is deemed to be an essential condition for the validity of a marriage. This condition, however, is subject to two restrictions, particularly in the case of young girls. The first is a pragmatic social restriction, as a significant proportion of marriages are still contracted in accordance with the traditional method whereby no real substance is given to the opinion of the girl or even to that of the young man in some cases, since the responsibility for arranging the marriage and creating an atmosphere conducive to its conclusion is assumed by the family. The second restriction is that the family must consent to the marriage of a minor. In this connection, there are various levels, which can be summarized as follows:

- A cleric who marries a minor (under 18 years of age) without the agreement of his guardian is committing a crime punishable under article 483 of the Penal Code;

- Family consent is desirable in all cases, whatever the age of the marriage suitor, although this does not imply that parents have the right to force their children into marriage;

- Family consent is generally required until the age of legal majority is attained, or, in the case of the Greek Orthodox church, until the age of 21;

- In most of the laws, the marriage of a minor requires permission from the competent cleric and the guardian, although in the event of the latter's arbitrary exercise of his right, the cleric may dispense with requirement for his consent (in accordance with the Sunna);

- In the Greek Orthodox sect, the consent of the family dispenses with the need for the consent of the minor in the marriage contract;

- In general, some distinction is made between males and females in regard to the requirement for consent and the minimum age of marriage;

76. Under the Penal Code, the age of majority is 18 years. On attaining that age, any perpetrator of a crime is fully responsible for his actions and benefits from none of the special protective treatment afforded to minors. In regard to the assumption of criminal responsibility, however, the Penal Code clearly makes a fine distinction between four stages (which also correspond to four standards of measures for the protection and care of children/minors). The distinction consists in the penalties imposed on minors and in those imposed on perpetrators of crime. These stages are as shown in the following table: