Controversy is escalating in the Iraqi street and in the halls of parliament regarding fears of passing amendments to the Personal Status Law, amidst a tug of war focused on its political and social repercussions, between the mosaic of religious, civil and ethnic orientations, in addition to the goals of the Shiite, Sunni and even Kurdish parties alike.
Parties are counting onCoordination FrameworkThe Shiite majority in parliament is in favor of approving these proposed amendments to the Personal Status Law, which enjoys the support of religious authorities in Najaf, and securing the support of the Sunni blocs, which are demanding – in return – the issuance of a general amnesty law for thousands of prisoners, as part of what is described as a political deal to pass both laws together.
In this context, the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Faiq Zidane, met with a group of female parliamentarians and the Iraqi Women’s Network, where the comments and proposed amendments to the draft amendment to the current Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959, and the objections to it, were addressed.
However, the subsequent controversy over the law has extended beyond the party decision-making circles under the dome of Parliament and the Judicial Council to the means of communication, media channels, and pressure discussion circles in organizations concerned with the family and child, amid questions about the motives behind the insistence on issuing the law at this time, as the most prominent disagreements over the amendments to the Personal Status Law are focused on issues of the marriage age for women, registering the marriage contract in the courts, the legal and legitimate reference for mixed marriage, the rights of divorced women, and child custody.
What are the new changes?
The Personal Status Law in Iraq was approved in 1959 during the reign of then Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qasim. It is a law that applies to all Iraqis without sectarian discrimination until now, but the new amendments indicate in one of its paragraphs that “an Iraqi man and woman have the right, when concluding a marriage contract, to choose the Shiite or Sunni sect whose provisions apply to them in all matters of personal status. Those who have not previously chosen to apply the provisions of a particular sect when concluding a marriage contract may submit a request to the competent Personal Status Court to apply the provisions of Sharia to personal status, according to the sect they choose, and the court must respond to their request.”
The draft law stipulates that “if the parties to a single family case disagree on determining the source of the rulings that must be applied in their request, the Sharia opinion shall be relied upon.” The new amendment also requires “the Scientific Council in the Shiite Endowment Office and the Scientific and Fatwa Council in the Sunni Endowment Office, in coordination with the State Council, to develop a code of Sharia rulings on personal status matters and submit it to the House of Representatives for approval within 6 months from the date of entry into force of this law.”
The amendment also includes the Personal Status Court’s approval of marriage contracts “concluded by adult Muslim individuals by someone who has a legal or religious authorization from the judiciary or from the Shiite and Sunni Endowment Diwans to conclude marriage contracts, after verifying that the pillars and conditions of the contract are met and that there are no impediments in the spouses.”
The Shiite voices in the “Coordination Framework” believe that the amendments are consistent with the federal constitution and do not cancel the current law, and that they address many issues.A From family issues, and denies that the coincidence of the inclusion of the amendment to the Personal Status Law with the General Amnesty Law was a deliberate plan, which is what political researcher Jalil Al-Lami indicated by saying, “The new Personal Status Law is closely linked to organizing family life as it relates to the individual’s beliefs and social status, as well as the Islamic jurisprudential nature with sectarian dimensions.”
Al-Lami added to Al Jazeera Net, “The Iraqi constitution emphasized the state of diversity through the text, according to what was stated in Article 1, that (Iraq is a federal state), and the text of Articles 2 and 3 that Iraq is (a country of multiple nationalities, religions and sects), and the text of Article 41 of the constitution, which directed society and authorities, that (Iraqis are free to adhere to their personal status), and therefore the amendment of Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959 came based on the constitutional text, and is consistent with societal customs and ideas from a practical perspective, and the legal age of puberty for a girl upon marriage from a jurisprudential perspective is according to the scientific measurements followed,” according to Al-Lami.
Concerns
But other voices see the issue from a different perspective, and believe that there are legitimate concerns about rejecting these proposed amendments, as they affect the country’s social unity and open the door to sectarian division, and also limit the gains of Iraqi women and families, as political and social psychology academic Haider Al-Jourani told Al Jazeera Net.
Al-Jawrani adds that “the major controversial argument lies in what the project includes” in the Code of Sharia Provisions for Personal Status, “which is originally an unprepared proposal, but as an idea it is based on jurisprudential opinions and interpretations that bind the judiciary, and it will be a source of great controversy if approved, and its effects may be reflected on Iraqi society and its family relations.”
Al-Jawrani pointed out that “setting the age of marriage (at 18 years, as currently in effect) came within the efforts to limit marriage contracts outside the walls of the courts, indicating that the amendments to it may expose a large segment of females to forced marriage at an early age or before the idea of marriage as a family project has matured in that age group,” as he described it.
This means that the above warnings will be worthless if these amendments are approved, because the issue of child marriage will be legitimate according to age only, based on what is approved by the Shiite Jaafari jurisprudence references, which is what legal experts have warned against, as it ignores the social and mental level that qualifies a person to marry, in addition to the prevailing custom in most Iraqi regions, while the Fiqh Council (the highest Sunni authority in Iraq) explained that marriage at the age of nine, although it was mentioned during the era of the Prophet, but these marriages are subject to the custom of those periods, which does not necessarily apply to our present time, according to what Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abdul Jabbar, the preacher of Abu Hanifa Mosque in Baghdad, said.
One of the most prominent problems is that many marriage contracts are not subject to registration in the courts and are conducted by religious figures and some are temporary, which makes them illegal under the current Iraqi Personal Status Law. They also do not guarantee rights for wives in the event of divorce, and do not recognize the children’s lineage. Therefore, these amendments could legitimize this type of marriage, and according to the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), 22% of them include girls under the age of 14.
Human Rights Watch says that unregistered religious marriages are primarily used as a loophole to enable child marriage, which in turn increases the consequences of child marriage for girls in particular, including increased risks of sexual and physical violence, loss of rights, death at birth, psychological harm, and deprivation of education. According to statistics over the past 20 years, child marriage rates in Iraq have been steadily increasing.
It is noteworthy that the current Personal Status Law sets the legal age for marriage at 18 years, or 15 years with the permission of a judge, according to “legal maturity and physical ability.” However, there are recorded cases of clerics allowing the marriage of girls as young as 9 years old. In marriages in which one or both spouses are minors and apply to the court to have their marriage ratified, judges find themselves faced with a fait accompli and often choose to register the marriage of minors, for fear of opposing the powerful influence of religious authorities in Iraq.
