On December 8, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (Court) ruled in Z.H. and R.H. v. Switzerland that Switzerland was under no obligation to recognize the marriage between two Afghani nationals, entered into in a religious ceremony in Iran, who were fourteen and eighteen years of age at the time. According to the press release, the case arose out of the separate consideration of the asylum applications of Ms. Z.H. and Mr. R.H., and the man’s subsequent expulsion from Switzerland.  Switzerland refused to consider the marriage, citing that “their alleged religious marriage could not be validly recognised in Switzerland . . . because it was illegal under the relevant provision of the Afghan Civil Code, which contained an absolute prohibition on marriage for women under 15 years of age” and “the applicant’s marriage was manifestly incompatible with Swiss ordre public, since having sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16 was a crime under . . . the Swiss Criminal Code.” The Court agreed, noting that “Article 8 of the [European Convention on Human Rights] cannot be interpreted as imposing on any State party to the Convention an obligation to recognise a marriage, religious or otherwise, contracted by a 14 year old child.” It further found that Article 12 (right to marry) of the Convention “expressly provides for regulation of marriage by national law, and given the sensitive moral choices concerned and the importance to be attached to the protection of children and the fostering of secure family environments, this Court must not rush to substitute its own judgment in place of the authorities who are best placed to assess and respond to the needs of society.” The Court thus concluded that “the national authorities were therefore justified in considering that the applicants were not married” and found that “a fair balance has been struck between the competing interests at stake” considering “the margin of appreciation afforded to States in immigration matters.”