Legal Debates and Developments in the Middle East

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Legal Debates and Developments in the Middle East

• Andrea Büchler

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Afghanistan

• 16/3/2007
• Afghanistan Marriage contract approved by
• the Supreme Court of Afghanistan
• After years of lobbying by networkers and
• activists, a standardized 'nikahnama
• (marriage contract) has been approved, with
• the potential of curbing forced and child
• marriages.

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Bahrain

• 8/5/2009
• Bahrain Opposition to minimum marriage
• age of 15
• Lawmakers from the largest opposition bloc
• in the Bahraini Parliament are opposing
• setting the minimum marriage age for girls at 15,
• saying this is against Islamic principles.

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Egypt

• 15/6/2008
• Egypt Law limits age gap between
• Spouses to 25 years
• The Egyptian authorities have banned a 92
• year-old man from marrying a 17-year-old
• girl, the Egyptian al-Akhbar newspaper has
• reported.

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Morocco

• 23/8/2006
• Morocco Women's advocates push men to
• recognize paternity
• Single mothers in Morocco suffer severe
• legal and social stigma. To offset those
• disadvantages, a longtime advocate is
• pushing to use the country's new DNA paternity
• law to help women identify the fathers.

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Saudi Arabia

• 13/5/2008
• Saudi Arabia Young woman married at 10
• years old must pay for divorce
• A 23 year old woman, forced to marry at ten
• in Saudi Arabia, was ordered to pay the
• equivalent of 16,750 euros to obtain a
• divorce from her husband, according to
• Saudi daily al-Watan.

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Iran

• 8/3/2008
• Iran Iranian man to pay wife a 124,000
• Rose dowry
• An Iranian court has ordered a man to give
• his wife the 124,000 roses that he promised
• in her dowry, after she filed a complaint to
• claim it, reports say.

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North Africa

• 24/11/2009
• North Africa Women at forefront of legal reform
• Women in North Africa have made tremendous
• progress in promoting and upholding their rights.
• Women in this region are at the forefront of the
  Arab
• world in terms of individual rights and gender
• equality, and constitute models for other Arab
• women to follow. A number of lessons may be drawn
• from the Inspiring experience of women in North
• Africa, especially in Morocco and Tunisia.

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Kuwait

• 30/10/2009
• Kuwait Victories for women's rights
• Kuwaiti women will be able to obtain their own
• passport without the consent of their husbands,
• following a ruling by the country's
  constitutional
• court. While The Kuwaiti Constitutional Court
• official website, in Arabic ruled that female
• lawmakers are not required to wear the hijab, or
• traditional Muslim headscarf.

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Mali

• 12/8/2009
• Mali Threats of violence greet new family
• code
• While rights groups are celebrating a newly
• adopted family code in Mali that changes
• marriage laws and expands girls rights,
• Muslim leaders and youths have vowed, even
• threatening violence, to block the code from
• becoming law.