"Women and Kuwaiti Personal Law,” Ghabra, 2007
"Women and Kuwaiti Personal Law”
Personal law in the Arab World is always a controversial topic. It is on the borderline between religious laws based on the Islamic. This law has a drastic impact on family matters, inheritance, and above all women. Personal Law in Kuwait approved since the early eighties is in 460 pages that govern all marital and divorce issues.
Dr. Shafeeq Ghabra, through the “Weekly Diwaniya”, aired Monday night at 10:00pm Kuwait time and again on Tuesday at 1:30pm hosted Dr. Badria Al-Awadhi, Professor in International Law, women activist lawyer and Former Dean at Kuwait University, Hussein Al-Abdullah, Lawyer and Journalist, Wasmi Al-Wasmi, lawyer and Hussein Al-Khashawi, Lawyer specialized in Shia Law.
Ghabra: “How does personal law in Kuwait effect women?”
Dr. Al-Awadhi: “Woman are an integral component of personal law and even though it has been 23 years since the personal law was issued, still no amendments have been made to the law. This creates many problems for women.”
Ghabra: “What does the law state and how does it effect women’s rights?”
Al-Awadhi: “The law restricts women especially when determining marital age for women which is 15 years of age and for men being 17 years of age.”
Ghabra: “What is the personal law in the Sultanate of Oman and what is the marital age?”
Al-Awadhi: “It is 17 for both women and men and in the United Arab Emirates it is 18 for both men and woman. They clearly do not differentiate between both sexes.”
Ghabra: “What is the position of women when it comes to marriage and divorce in Kuwait?”
Al-Awadhi: “Personal law normalizes the process of marriage and divorce in Kuwait.”
Ghabra: “Does the law incorporate all sectors of religion, keeping in mind that Shia’s have different interpretations and are about 1/3 of our population?”
Al-Awadhi: “Article 346 can be applied to all. The article also gives Shia’s the right to practice what they feel is acceptable. In Kuwait, Shia’s follow the leadership of the late Al-Khaoui in Iraq they follow today the interpretations of Sistani.”
Ghabra: “What about divorce?”
Al-Awadhi: “Article 117 states that woman must give up their right for any financial compensation when insisting on divorce if the man is against it. In some cases woman pay the man and give up on so many things in order to have the right to divorce a husband.”
Ghabra: “This is the only way to divorce her husband?”
Al-Awadhi: “When you end up in a horrible marriage and all you want is to get out at any price: we propose these steps and they are in accordance with Shari’ah law.
Ghabra: “What about all the expenses after the divorce?”
Al-Awadhi: “Expenses after a divorce are apply if the divorce was fully caused by the man.. This applies for one year in the Kuwaiti law. In the Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian laws the time frame for women’s compensation is longer.. This is one law that we need to rectify in Kuwait.”
Al-Awadhi: “According to article 111 in Personal Law, the husband and wife may divorce if they are both in agreement but the process takes years.”
Ghabra: “What about in other countries? How is this incorporated?”
Al-Awadhi: “In Algeria women may ask the judge for a divorce without the husband agreeing. In Egypt the same is applies. In Kuwait however, the husband has to agree to the divorce and the husband has the right to marry other women. In Egypt the number of divorces reached 30,000 when the law granted the women right to divorce their husbands without their agreement. Likewise, In Qatar if the women insists on Divorce, she is also granted this right.”
Ghabra: “What about other issues related to divorce?”
Al-Awadhi: “There are so many issues related to divorce. For example a women can be divorced from her husband in case of physical and or emotional abuse. There are even financial issues that call the woman to have the right to divorce.
Ghabra: “So what we understand is that we need to amend aspects of the law in Kuwait such as age of marriage, and right of women to divorce without the agreement of the man in addition to compensation for women and the issue of the second wife ?”
Al-Awadhi: “ in Kuwait in the case of a agreed upon divorce, the man has no right to take custody of the children. The children stay with the woman.”
Ghabra: “Hussein Al-Abdullah, how do you see woman today in the midst of personal law?”
Al-Abdullah: “The law has a hint of equality between the man and the woman. What is needed, is the judges to be more consistent when applying the laws. There are different interpretations of the law and this is when things go wrong.”
Ghabra: “What about Equality?”
Al-Abdullah: “Equality needs a clean mind and a modest mind. The institutions that are behind dictating the laws are not applying the laws in favour of women. I think we should have a court specialized in family and personal law.”
Ghabra: “What is your point of view Mr. Wasmi Al-Wasmi?”
Al-Wasmi: “Our role as lawyers and judges is vital to the application of the laws. when a woman does not want to stay in a marriage, our job is to help her obtain the divorce.”
Ghabra: “what about men who marry more than one woman?”
Al-Wasmi: “This is an open-ended issue and one of the problems. A women cannot stop her husband from such an act by law. The only thing she can do is ask for a divorce and the law will support her in gaining a divorce.”
.
Al-Wasmi: “The law needs amendments. I fear that the law will always demoralize and not give woman what they deserve.”
Al-Awadhi: “There are international institutions that provide information about women’s rights. The amendments that must be done to the laws in Kuwait must grant women more freedom.”
Al-Khashawi: “Shia law also applies personal law. However, there are minor differences such as the wife has the right to ask for financial support in the case of a divorce. However, the Shia law is only applied if the couple is married in a Shia courthouse. Those who are married in a normal courthouse and do not follow Shia law only benefit from laws that involve custody for the children.”
Ghabra: “So the raising of children and divorce is easier through personal law then Shia law?”
Al-Awadhi: “All the laws whether Shia or not have been created by men and need to be revisited.”
Please feel free to email your comments to diwaniya@jusoorarabiya.com