Thursday, January 23, 2025 - Iraq's parliament has reportedly passed several laws including the one that will effectively legalise child marriage for girls as young as nine.
According to Mail Online, the amendments to Iraq's personal status law
will give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including
marriage, divorce, and inheritance.
Iraqi law currently sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage in most
cases, but the changes passed on Tuesday, January 21, would let clerics rule
according to their interpretation of Islamic law.
Some of these interpretations allow the marriage of girls in their early
teens or as young as nine under the Ja'afari school of Islamic law followed by
many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq.
Proponents of the changes, which were advocated by primarily
conservative Shiite lawmakers, defend them as a means to align the law with
Islamic principles and reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture.
But Intisar al-Mayali, a human rights activist and a member of the
Iraqi Women's League, said passage of the civil status law amendments 'will
leave disastrous effects on the rights of women and girls through the marriage
of girls at an early age'.
'This violates their right to life as children, and will disrupt the
protection mechanisms for divorce, custody, and inheritance for women,' the
activist declared.
The parliamentary session which saw the passage of the amendments ended
in chaos and accusations of procedural violations
'Half of the lawmakers present in the session did not vote, which broke
the legal quorum,' a parliamentary official said on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorised to comment publicly.
After the session, a number of legislators reportedly complained about
the voting process, under which all three controversial laws, each of which was
supported by different blocs were voted on together.
'Regarding the civil status law, we are strongly supporting it and there
were no issues with that,' said Raid al Maliki, an independent MP.
'But it was combined with other laws to be voted on together... and this
might lead to a legal appeal at the Federal Court.'
Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani in a statement praised the
laws' passage as ‘an important step in the process of enhancing justice and
organising the daily lives of citizens.’
The parliament also passed a general amnesty law that is seen as
benefiting Sunni detainees and has been criticised as giving a pass to people
involved in corruption and embezzlement.
The chamber passed a land restitution law aimed at addressing Kurdish
territorial claims.
The proposed amendments to the law were first announced in August.
With many Iraqi marriages conducted informally and left unregistered,
the revisions will allow figures from Sunni and Shia religious sects to
finalise unions between people in law.
The law previously stated that marriage requires 'a sound mind and
completing 18 years of age', with provisions for women fleeing abuse in
annulling a contract.
Fifteen-year-olds could submit a marriage request, which judges could
choose to approve if they deem the individual well and obtain their legal
guardian's consent.
A judge could permit the marriage of a 15-year-old 'if he finds this
absolutely necessary', the law stated, without providing further details.
Under the new laws, marrying Muslim couples would choose either a Sunni
or Shia sect, who would be able to represent them in 'all matters of personal
status' rather than the civil judiciary.
'When a dispute occurs between the spouses regarding the doctrine
according to whose provisions the marriage contract was concluded, the contract
is deemed to have been concluded in accordance with the husband's doctrine
unless evidence exists to the contrary,' the draft says.
And figures from the offices of each 'endowment' would be able to
finalise marriages, rather than the courts.
This may also see unregistered marriages more than a fifth of which
involve girls under 14 - legitimised by the state.
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