Iraq's parliament approved three divorce laws on Tuesday, including changes to the country's personal status law that opponents say would effectively legalize child marriage.
The changes give Islamic courts more authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance. Activists argue that this undermines Iraq's 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established protections for women.
Iraqi law currently sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage in most cases.
The changes approved on Tuesday would allow clerics to rule according to their interpretation of Islamic law, which some interpret to allow young girls to marry in their early teens – or as young as nine under the Jaafari school of Islamic law and then many Shia religious authorities in Iraq.
Supporters of the changes, which were mainly advocated by conservative Shia lawmakers, defend them as a way to align the law with Islamic principles and reduce the influence of the West on Iraqi culture.
The parliament also approved a general amnesty law that was seen as a benefit to Sunni detainees and that is also seen as giving permission to people involved in corruption and disobedience. The chamber also passed a land restitution law aimed at addressing Kurdish territorial claims.
'Disastrous effects' on women's rights, girls: activist
Intisar al-Mayali, a human rights activist and member of the Iraqi Women's League, said the move to change the civil status law “will leave a devastating impact on the rights of women and girls, through the marriage of girls at a young age, which violates their right to life as children, and disrupting the protection mechanisms for divorce, custody and inheritance for women.”
The session ended in chaos and allegations of procedural violations.
“Half of the lawmakers present at the session did not vote, which violated the legal quorum,” said a parliamentary official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He said some members protesting loudly and others climbing on the podium of the parliament.
After the session, several legislators complained about the voting process, under which the three controversial laws – each supported by different blocs – were voted together.
“As for the civil status law, we strongly support it and there have been no issues with that,” said Raid al Maliki, an independent MP.
Changes may lead to a legal appeal
“But it was combined with other laws to be voted together … and this could lead to a legal appeal at the Federal Court.”
The Speaker of the Parliament Mahmoud al-Mashhadani in a statement praised the passage of the laws as “an important step in the process of increasing justice and organizing the daily life of citizens.” “
Also on Tuesday, at least three officers, including the national security chief of al-Tarmiyah district north of Baghdad, were killed and four others wounded in an explosion at a military base, a security official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to provide information to the media, said the explosion occurred as a joint force of the Iraqi army and the national security service carried out an operation following reports information about the activities of the Islamic State group and their weapons cache in the area.
