stipulate 復習
女性の婚姻年齢を18歳以上に引き上げることが検討されているようです。
Legal marriage age for women likely to be raised to 18
In relation to its recent move to amend the Civil Code to lower the age of legal adulthood from 20 to 18, the Justice Ministry has begun to consider raising the legal marriage age for females to 18, the same age at which males are legally allowed to marry, Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda said Friday.
“We need to consider the issue of legal marriage ages [which currently differ between men and women], as well as discuss lowering the age of legal adulthood,” the minister said at a press conference held after the Cabinet meeting on the day.
The Civil Code stipulates that men can marry at 18 or older while women can do so at 16 or older. According to a senior ministry official, the age difference derives from the belief that “women grow faster than men both physically and mentally.”
The Legislative Council, an advisory panel to the justice minister, submitted a report in 1996 and again in 2009 recommending the ministry fix the legal marriage age at 18 for both men and women. The 2009 report clearly states that “marriage ages should be set at 18 for both men and women at the same time the Civil Code is amended to lower the age of adulthood to 18.”
However, some observers have voiced concern over the fact that the amendment will prevent 16- and 17-year-old females from marrying. There is also concern about raising the marriage age for women amid a situation in which fewer children are being born. In response to such viewpoints, sources say the ministry will carefully discuss the amendment.
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003192131
今回取り上げる表現はstipulateです。『ライトハウス英和辞典』（第5版 研究社）で調べてみますと他動詞で「（格式）（…）を契約（特定）の条件として要求する、（契約書などが）（…）を規定（明記）する」とありました。今回は民法の規定に関する事柄であることから、規定する、明記するの意味で用いられていると考えられます。LDOCEには “if an agreement, law, or rule stipulates something, it must be done [= state]” とあり、mustという語が拘束力を表していると思いました。
この表現は過去にも取り上げられておりました。(aqua)
