Pluralistic elements of a new family law

A separate document addresses the proposed elements of a Palestinian family law and, here, differences arose over a number of issues, principally in formula­tions on polygyny and inheritance.

ι. I he full participation of husband and wife in the family as reflected in a marriage contract between two parties equal in rights and obligations.

2. The right of women inside the family to self-determination and to be their own guardian after legal majority, which occurs at eighteen years of age.

3. A minimum age of capacity for marriage for men and women at eighteen.

4. Divorce as a judicial proceeding only and in the presence of the two parties, and divorce to be initiated at the request of either party.

5. Establishing a maintenance fund (sunduq nqfaqd) and alimony in the case of arbitrary divorce.

6. Guaranteeing equality' between men and women when marriage ends, in­cluding in custody and guardianship of children and division of property and wealth from the period of married life on the consideration that women’s work at home and in child-rearing is productive.

7. Joint responsibility in the maintenance of the family and children.

In the last point, the document gives a basis for a new gender contract, as it does in the first point where the actual marriage contract is seen as ‘between two parties equal in rights and obligations’. The problem of addressing the material interests of women in specific situations, however, is raised in the point estab­lishing a maintenance fund, which would potentially contradict the notion of joint maintenance if the fund were seen as available only to needy women, and not men. The document thus adopts a pluralistic approach, which needs more articulation to serve as an effective strategy.

A point calling for an end to the practice of polygyny because it diminishes the dignity of women and causes discord in the family proved controversial and required a note to the effect that committee members disagreed, with some advocating a total ban on polygyny and others supporting its restriction. The note also recorded disagreement on the principle of gender equality in inheritance entitlements.

The difficulties in reaching agreement on a text inside the preparatory com­mittee, which was constituted from the women’s movement itself, suggests the importance of exploring the second, more implicit, contradiction, between legal reform as a NGO project or as a political process. Here, the experience of the model parliament underlines that advocating gender-equitable family law reform in the Palestinian context - as is probably the case in the Arab and Muslim world in general - is far too complicated to be contained with a project framework carried out by one or more women’s or other non-governmental organizations, and requires a wide process of democratic participation.