Egypt’s five churches signed the final draft of the Personal Status Law for Egypt’s Christians. The draft, signed on 9 December, will be sent to parliament and presented for a societal dialogue before ratification, according to MP Monsef Suleiman, representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church in parliament’s Personal Status Law Committee.
Monsef said the draft was approved by all Christian denominations: the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church.
This will be the first-ever comprehensive personal status law for Christians in Egypt’s history, he noted, expecting it will resolve 90 per cent of marriage and divorce-related issues.
The new law is anticipated to ease divorce proceedings for Christians in Egyptian courts. Previously, divorce cases were limited to adultery as the sole cause, leaving 270,000 cases unresolved, according to some lawyers.
Senator Gamil Halim, the legal representative of the Catholic Church on the same parliamentary committee, concurred. “Previously, Christians did not have a unified law to govern such matters. Instead, we relied on Regulation 38, issued by the National Council of the Coptic Orthodox Church. For 85 years, there has been no formal legal framework.”
The draft was crafted under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. It aligns with Article 3 of the constitution which stipulates that “the principles of Christian and Jewish Sharia of Egyptian Christians and Jews are the main source of legislation that regulate their respective personal status, religious affairs, and selection of spiritual leaders.”
Bishop Nicola, the official spokesperson of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and representative of the Greek Orthodox Church on the Personal Status Law Committee, said the Greek Orthodox Church had signed the draft which was unanimously agreed upon by all Christian denominations. Previous objections from his church arose due to its lack of participation in earlier committee sessions, he added.
Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli established a committee, chaired by the Ministry of Justice, with representatives from each church to draft the law, Halim said. The law comprises seven chapters: marriage, expenses, parental and child obligations, proof of lineage, missing persons, inheritance and penalties, he added.
The chapter on marriage comprises five sections covering engagement, the pillars and conditions of marriage, marriage contract procedures, marital movables, as well as conditions to nullify or end marriage and civil termination of marriage, Halim explained.
The second chapter on expenses is divided into three sections on general provisions, expenses between spouses, and expenses between children, parents, and relatives. The third chapter regulating parent-children relations falls into five sections dealing with parental authority, custody and related matters, educational guardianship, visiting rights, and hosting.
The sixth chapter on inheritance comprises three sections: general provisions; provisions governing the estates of patriarchs, bishops, and monks, noting that monks neither inherit nor are inherited; and the rules for heir entitlement under Christian law, which ensures gender equality in inheritance rights. The seventh chapter outlines penalties for any violations of the law, Halim added.
There are no provisions for adoption in the draft law, Suleiman noted.
On challenges drafting the law, Halim said that “the Justice Ministry made a substantial effort to achieve consensus among the various churches, each of which had long adhered to its own regulations. The primary challenge lay in reconciling the general provisions of the law with the specific doctrines and practices of each denomination, ensuring that the law meets the unique needs of every church without imposing external mandates or conflicting with their principles.”
On the upside, he continued, the law will terminate the misuse and fraud associated with certificates of religious conversion which had, in some cases, become a tool for obtaining divorces. The new law explicitly applies the principle of “the law of the contract” which stipulates that a marriage solemnised in the Catholic Church would be governed exclusively by Catholic doctrine concerning resolutions of disputes.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 19 December, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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