Parliamentary debate on amending the Personal Status Law

The amendments to the "Personal Status Law" have provoked wide coverage in the Iraqi street, especially among the civil and intellectual circles because of some of its "degrading" clauses that allow the marriage of underage girls from the age of seven years. Is the return of ten steps back in a country that has gone a long way in advancing itself and taking its advanced position among the nations of the world. It has also paid the price of fourteen years for the "democracy" that is now being extinguished by the law of stone age.

"The Personal Status Law No. (88) for the year (59) is very simple and gives the Iraqi family great strength, and it provides protection for women as the basis of building the family," said Alia Nassif, a member of the legal committee. .

 "Now there are attempts to turn back through laws that divide Iraq sectarianly and prevent Muslims from alienating non-Muslims (in reference to Jaafari law)," she said.

Nassif pointed out that it allows the dispersion of families because it gives women the right to divorce themselves if the husband disobeys his obligations, and in light of the difficult situation in Iraq there must be a situation between men and women to maintain this family.

On the marriage of minors in the amended law (the Jaafari law) Nassif said that this article was in the first draft of the law which was rejected, amended and presented again in a draft void of this law.

"This is what has gone wrong with the statements made by a number of deputies," said MP Shorouq Abayji in a statement followed by "The Journal News", that "everyone is following the risks and damage to amend the personal status law in force No. 88 of 1959, which has maintained the unity of the Iraqi fabric throughout these years" , Pointing out that "the proposed law between us and the reasons we rejected him, includes constitutional irregularities.

And revealed the most controversial points in this law, saying that it will make the clerics are controlling the conditions of citizens, indicating that "the Personal Status Law filed challenges the principle of separation of powers and make the endowment, an executive body, which manages the conditions of personal citizens while it is the work of the judiciary "He said. "There will be a ruling on the rights of women by any cleric according to his interpretations, because he does not resort to the law, but to the religious interpretations that anyone can own without specific criteria, all at the expense of women and their rights." Abayji said that "the age of marriage of minors will be according to the doctrines and interpretations. Any religious man who explains as he pleases can marry a 7-year-old girl. This is not logical to work with. We are in a country that has a 1959 law. In the countries of the region. "

She pointed out that "this law is an extension of the law presented in the previous parliamentary session, the Jaafari law, which was rejected after the submission of the former Minister of Justice, a currently deputy from the cluster of virtue Hassan al-Shammari," noting that "the current amendment to the personal status law submitted by Before the head of the citizen bloc MP Hamid al-Khudari. " "This law was presented by a Shiite, but it has the support of Sunni religious parties. It will also have the freedom to work in personal circumstances as it wishes without any legal framework," she said. She stressed that "some paragraphs of the law are incompatible with the principle of Islam and everything related to the construction of a society imposed by the law, this amendment challenged the unity of law, and contest Article 14 of the Constitution is that (Iraqis are equal by law) considering their sexual backgrounds, every marriage contract will have a formula Different from the other, according to the cleric who writes the contract. " "This law will tear apart the unity of the Iraqi social fabric and the unity of justice and legal frameworks, which seeks to legislate does not realize what will result from this law." "We will not allow it to pass, and yesterday we put it in principle, but it was rejected, but the speaker of parliament is in control of the result. He says by a clear majority with the law. There was no quorum. We went out the opposition and broke the quorum. spotter". She concluded by saying: "We will appeal to the competent judicial authorities and others, because they want to be introduced for the first reading after the rejection of the majority of the audience, but Jubouri violates that and the majority rule. "We will not allow it to pass, and yesterday was put forward in principle but it was rejected, but the speaker of parliament is in control of the result and says by a clear majority with the law, and there was no quorum, we went out the objectors and broke the quorum, as can not vote on any legal article without a quorum." She concluded by saying: "We will appeal to the competent judicial authorities and others, because they want to be introduced for the first reading after the rejection of the majority of the audience, but Jubouri violates that and the majority rule. "We will not allow it to pass, and yesterday was put forward in principle but it was rejected, but the speaker of parliament is in control of the result and says by a clear majority with the law, and there was no quorum, we went out the objectors and broke the quorum, as can not vote on any legal article without a quorum." She concluded by saying: "We will appeal to the competent judicial authorities and others, because they want to be introduced for the first reading after the rejection of the majority of the audience, but Jubouri violates that and the majority rule.

MP of the Warka parliamentary bloc, Joseph Salwa said at a press conference held in the House of Representatives that "the draft amendment to the law of personal status and bad content, was included yesterday in the session of the House of Representatives, despite the objections of wide civil society institutions and deputies of different blocks, With consultative meetings to show the dangers of many of its articles, and the seriousness of the Iraqi society, before being presented in the House of Representatives, but unfortunately did not happen.

He added that "what happened in the meeting yesterday, and insist on including the amendment of the Personal Status Law in order to pass it and vote on it in principle, ignoring the views of the objectors of the deputies and civil society organizations," noting, "I asked the President of the House of Representatives, a point of order more than The decision was made to oppose the draft amendment of the law, but it did not respond, so decided and together with about 15 deputies from different blocs, including members of the National Alliance and the coalition of state law, the Alliance of Forces, the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, along with deputies from the National Coalition, From the parliament hall, to break the quorum. "

For her part, said a member of the Committee on Women, Family and Childhood in the House of Representatives, Rizan Sheikh Delir, in a statement received «Journal News», that "the amendment of the Personal Status Law is a reproduction of the so-called Jaafari law, and encourages the marriage of minors," a setback for women Iraq, "noting that" the application of this law reminds us of the behavior of an association with girls when young children were forced to marry his elements while in Mosul and Syria. " And carried Sheikh Delir, the Presidency represented by Speaker of the House of Representatives Salim al-Jubouri and Vice-Hammam Hamoudi and members of the House of Representatives of the National Alliance responsible for the adoption of this law, amid objections from the Kurdish parties and the coalition of Iraqi forces, "and other parties and deputies, stressing that" Jubouri was in favor of the adoption of this law, He started with the blessing of the (Islamic) parties of the two communities without regard for human rights and the continued humiliation and abuse of women. "