Courts and the reform of personal status law in Egypt: judicial divorce for injury and poligamy

توضیح

یادداشت: عنوان فارسی: دادگاه ها و اصلاح قانون احوال شخصیه در مصر: طلاق قضایی به دلیل آسیب و چندهمسری.
From the twentieth century onward, Egyptian Iawmalœrs Btrived to reinstate a balance hetween men and women in their access to marriage dissolution.! Among other reforros, they limited the male prerogative to end marriage unilaterallr and expand~ womens grounds to file for judicial divorce. The rïght to divorce was eIaborated ID three stages: first of aIl, Iaws in 1920 and 1929 allowed divorce for various forros of harm;3 then,"in 1979 and 1985 the law dealt with the partieular case of divorce. due to damage caused by the husband's polygamy; finally, a Iaw adopted in 2000 introduced a judicial procedure for the breakup of marriage without harm (khul'). These reforros were introduced as a result of an internaI renovation process and were made l~te, by referenœ to shan'a principles, as disclosed by the explanatory memorandums to the laWs., If the codilication process 100 to improvements in women's status, implementation of the reforros could not however he achieved without the active support of judges. Whatever the grounds, but in partieular in cases of requests for divorce based on injury or polygamy, judicial divorce requires the assessment by a court of th~ na~e and the degree of harm suffered by the wife, and judges enjoy a great deal of discretion "in malcing their decisions. If no specifie provision in the Iaw can he found on a partieular point, Law No 112000 further stipuIates that the judge shall follow the MOst prevalent opinion within the Hanafi school. This means that if a legal provision exists, the judge has to apply it; however, if the Iaw is silent, it will he up to the court to seek, identify and implernent non-codified IsIamic shari'a norms. Different courts may be involved in requests for divorce. At first, family courts will decide on the substance of the case.5 These courts were establishOO in 20Q4. to bring relief to an over-burdeded judicial system by consolidating all aspects of a divorce dispute into a single case ahd thereby speeding up the legal process. Eaeh court is run by a panel of three judges d theJr decisions, except in khul' cases where the ruling of the judge is final,7 can he a pealed before appeal courts. Since 2004, rulings in family Iaw cases are no longer engeable before the Court of Cassation. The rulings of the Court of Cassation m tioned in titis chapter were issued before the entry into force of that Iaw. Finally, the" w providing women with the rïght to file for divorce in cases of polygamy was chall nged hefore the Supreme Constitutional Court for unconstitutionality, as was th khul' Iaw. The Court had to decide whether the provisions 6 Courts and the Reform of Personal Status Law in Egypt