The legislative process

The government’s initiative in drafting a new personal status law could be attri­buted to a number of reasons. The existing law was a source of considerable embarrassment for the government on the international level, as opening up to the West economically had a social cost.

A specialized committee of the National Democratic Party’s women leaders was formed in 1998. This committee drafted a white paper and submitted it to the Minister of Justice, Counsellor Farouq Saif Al Nasser. The white paper contained six points for inclusion in personal status law, including the khul' pro­cedure discussed below. The same year, the Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the National Council of Women presented a draft proposal for discussion before the People’s Assembly; the amendments proposed in this document were not aimed at changing substance so much as at reducing the amount of time taken by litigation procedures, and at establishing family courts dedicated to personal status matters. In 1998, the draft law was discussed at the Shura Assembly (Senate); the government seemed comfortable with the idea and it was referred to the Council of State for review; it was approved. A copy of the draft was also sent to the Mufti of the Republic and the Shaykh of al-Azhar to confirm its compliance with the rulings of the Islamic shari'a.

The original draft of the law was to attract considerable criticism, some of which is outlined below, and a number of its provisions were to undergo changes before the law was finally passed in January 2000, as Law no. 1 of 2000 Concerning Certain Situations and Procedures of Litigation in Personal Status Matters. The most often discussed points in the draft included the wife’s right to obtain from the court (if her husband refused to agree) a khul' divorce in return for waiving her financial rights from her husband; the wife’s right to petition the court for the right to travel if her husband was refusing; the denial of legal validity (in terms of effects) to an out-of-court talaq not witnessed and formally registered with the relevant authorities; and the official recognition of divorce from an 'uιfi marriage.