Marriage law reform for equality and interfaith
Lebanon, Culture, 7/18/1997

Sweeping changes to existing marriage laws were proposed on July 16 by Beirut MP Ghassan Matar in a bid to narrow the gap between men and women in society and allow for wedlock across the confessional divides.

"Different religious faiths should not stand in the way of the marriage of two people. . . and the authority that should deal with marriage disputes or claims should be a civil one, not religious courts," Matar told a news conference at parliament.

"Streamlining laws, especially those related to civil status, is the best means to secure democracy and equality among members of the same community," Matar said.

"Moreover, civil marriages have made headway in most Eastern and Western countries in the drive to uphold the rights of women," he added.

Matar, a high-ranking official of the secular Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), wrapped up his proposals in a draft bill which he submitted to parliament's secretariat.

According to the proposed legislation, a Lebanese can choose between two systems: either marry according to civil marriage laws and thus, get married to a Lebanese foreigner regardless of the other party's religious beliefs, or else marry the traditional way according to one's religious group and obey the consequent laws, he added.

To secure equality between men and women, no divorce should take place at the whim of men alone, and polygamy should be strictly banned.

The male spouse should not take it for granted that he has priority over the female spouse in family matters, and men and women should have equal shares in inheritance cases, it added, in violation of Islamic religious law, which gives a woman half the man's share in inheritance.

The bill also gives women the same rights as men in launching business ventures or being employed in any profession.

With respect to divorce, Matar said, "Although divorce proceedings could be based on several facts depending on the religious faith of the marriage partners, the proposed legislation requires the fulfillment of either one of two main conditions before a divorce case could be looked into by the legal system."

These conditions, he added, were either a major mistake by one of the two marriage partners, or the impossibility for the two spouses to remain together in matrimonial life.

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search