And the Egyptian presidency spoke, a few days ago, about the features of a new draft personal status law, which is being prepared, with the aim of preserving “family bonding and the future of generations”, amid parliamentary moves, and others in the “Dar Ifta” for this purpose.
Drug and gene analysis
Representative Hala Abu Al-Saad, a member of the Egyptian Parliament, revealed her intention to submit to the parliament, during next January, a new draft law that includes amendments to the Civil Service Law; Drug tests are required before marriage; To reduce divorce cases, and preserve the family.
In an exclusive interview with Sky News Arabia, Abu Al-Saad explained her motives for submitting the new draft law, saying:
- Reality and many examples before us proved that drug abuse was one of the main reasons for the high divorce rates, or the increase in family imbalances and disputes.
- This reality required speedy legislative intervention. It is obligatory for those who are about to get married to undergo a drug test as part of the medical examination to complete the marriage.
- The new draft law requires that each party be informed of the result of the drug analysis, so that matters are known to the spouses, “noting that the analysis will be mandatory and through accredited bodies and subject to monitoring.
- There is a need to conduct other analyzes for the examination of genes; To avoid genetic diseases, which may affect the future of the family.
Imprisonment and a fine for violators
The initial explanatory memorandum for the draft law, Representative Hala Abu Al-Saad, of which Sky News Arabia obtained a copy, said that in view of drug abuse causing an increase in divorce rates, the draft law added Article No. 31 bis A, 31 bis B, and 31 bis C, b, to the Civil Service Law as follows:
- Article (31 bis A) stipulates that: In order to document a marriage contract in front of the official or the documentation authority, a drug analysis is required for each of the spouses, in order to ensure that neither of them abuses any narcotic drug because of the effect that this has on marital life in the future.
- (Article 31 bis b) stipulates that if a drug analysis sample is proven positive without a medical requirement for that in either of the spouses, the other party must be notified immediately of that, and in this case the notary may complete the documentation procedures only after the other party acknowledges his knowledge of that. .
- (Article 31 bis c) stipulates that whoever violates the provisions of Article 31 bis a and Article 31 bis c shall be punished with imprisonment and a fine of not less than 5 thousand pounds and not more than twenty thousand pounds, or either of them.
New conditions for the marriage contract
Two days ago, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that the new draft personal status law (which is being prepared by the Ministry of Justice and will be put forward for community dialogue soon) will require those planning to get married to conduct health checks and establish a committee to review it, headed by a judge, to complete the contract or not.
President El-Sisi said, during the inauguration of two factories in the Chemical Industries Complex in Abu Rawash, Giza Governorate, explaining the most important conditions for the marriage contract in the new law; Conducting a medical examination for those about to get married before giving permission to the marriage official to document the marriage contract. This is done through a committee and with the approval of a judge who acknowledges the validity of these analyzes.
Integrated and detailed law
A statement by the Egyptian Presidency Spokesman, Ambassador Bassam Radi, issued last Saturday, stated that the new draft personal status law aims to formulate an integrated and detailed law.
According to the statement, the most prominent features of the new draft law include:
- Granting new powers to the judge to deal with urgent cases in order to support the family, in addition to establishing a new system that brings together the disputes of each family before one court.
- Introducing procedures to limit divorce, as well as preserving the financial liability of each spouse and the share of each of them in the common wealth that was formed during marriage.
- Re-drafting the marriage and divorce documents to ensure that they include what the two parties agreed upon in cases of marriage and divorce.
- Documenting divorce, as is the case in documenting marriage, and not arranging any obligations on the wife except from the date of her knowledge of it.
Earlier, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in Egypt revealed that the divorce rate in 2021 increased by 14.7 percent compared to the year before 2020.
During the year 2021, Egypt recorded 254 thousand and 777 divorce cases, while it was 222 thousand and 39 cases in 2020.
Rehabilitation of those intending to marry
In a not-too-distant context, the Egyptian Dar Al-Iftaa announced the organization of a course for “habilitation of those who are about to get married”, during the coming period.
Yesterday, the Dar stated, on its official Facebook page, that the course includes a number of topic titles, most notably; The psychological characteristics of men and women, the skill of marital dialogue, and the correct management of psychological stress between spouses.
Topics also include; Criteria for choosing a life partner, the medical aspect of the marital relationship, reproductive health, financial savings and investment, spending style, skill in dealing with problems, the art of persuasion and influence skills, the art of negotiation, anger control, how to overcome domestic violence, and build healthy family relationships.
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