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By Ahram-online –

Egypt is on the verge of passing its first personal status law for Christians, marking the culmination of five decades of efforts to address longstanding demands for a cohesive legal framework for Christian families.Related

This law was finalized after months of intensive negotiations between the Ministry of Justice and representatives of the five Christian denominations officially recognized in Egypt: Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, Roman Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox.

The draft law was finally signed by both parties last week.

Legal experts describe the law as a “historic leap.” It addresses longstanding disputes regarding issues for Christians, such as marriage annulment, divorce, and inheritance.

The law has transformative potential for Egypt’s Christian population. According to Pope Tawadros II’s statements in 2023, Christians comprised 15 percent of the country’s 105 million population at the time.

The next step will be presenting the draft law to the House of Representatives, where a special committee will review it. Once this review is completed, the law will be put for a vote in the legislature.

It will then become Egypt’s first-ever comprehensive legal framework for Christian personal status issues if passed.

History

The push for a unified personal status law for Christians has been ongoing since 1977 when the draft law was first presented to the Egyptian government, Monsef Naguib Suleiman, an advisor for the Coptic Orthodox Church and a member of the House of Representatives, said in TV remarks.

Despite the Christian community’s widespread support for the draft law, it never passed the bureaucratic hurdles.

The law underwent multiple revisions over the years. In 1988, a new draft was submitted, which was also approved by all the major Christian sects, but later stalled too.

The political turmoil in 2011 following the Egyptian revolution further delayed the law’s passage.

Later, efforts to finalize the law were reignited by adopting the 2014 Egyptian constitution, which explicitly recognized the need for legislation governing Christians’ personal status issues.

Since then, the justice ministry has held numerous meetings with representatives of Christian sects to reach an agreement on a draft law.

Currently, Christians in Egypt are subject to the general personal status law, which, as outlined in the constitution, is based on Islamic law.

Despite religious differences, the existing general personal status law governs various personal matters for all citizens, including non-Muslims.

This system has been in place for years, as Egypt does not have separate personal status laws for Christians or other religious minorities.

Divorce

The draft law includes several significant provisions that address religious principles and modern legal needs, including expanded grounds for marriage annulment.

Previously, divorce in the Christian community was limited to very specific circumstances, primarily infidelity or if one of the spouses converts to a different religion or denomination.

In such cases, divorce must be finalized in court, and the church’s role is limited to granting permission for a second marriage to the aggrieved party.

In the new law, churches decided to prohibit divorce for changing denomination, according to Suleiman. This means divorce would be governed by the laws of the denomination under which the marriage occurred.

Moreover, the new law includes measures that prevent manipulating the legal system, such as restricting the practice of changing one’s religion to obtain a divorce, which some individuals seeking a loophole have used.

However, the new law permits divorce in other cases, such as deception regarding a chronic illness (including infertility) or a separation lasting three years or more.

Inheritance

Another key change is the introduction of gender equality in inheritance laws, which has been a major point of heated argument for Christians in the past years.

According to Suleiman, the new law gives men and women equal rights to inherit property or money from their parents, reflecting the Christian teachings of equality.

Suleiman also noted that the new law will not acknowledge civil marriage and adoption in accordance with Islamic Sharia.

However, he clarified that the new law shares 80 provisions with the personal status law for Muslims, addressing issues like child custody and alimony.

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https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/2/537005/Egypt/Society/Explainer-Key-facts-about-Egypt-st-personal-status.aspx

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