Controversial Legislation Could Soon be Approved

A new draft of Syria’s personal status laws – which provoked widespread condemnation in the country – would have been passed earlier if it hadn’t been leaked to the media, said the pro-government website all4Syria on June 1.



The proposed legislation – which according to reports, would prevent Christians clerics from conducting marriage ceremonies and authorizing divorces – was denounced by clerics as a “project to instigate strife”, said the website.



The draft has also been criticised by several rights groups for maintaining an amnesty for those accused of honour crimes, it added.



According to the website, the official General Committee for Family Affairs has complained about the law to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.



Observers fear that the government might be planning to pass the law without submitting it to a vote in parliament, said the website.



In Syria, a draft law can be approved directly by the president if it is delivered outside the timeframe of regular parliamentary sessions.



The website wrote earlier, on May 27, that the heads of Syria’s main churches decided, after a recent meeting, to send a letter of protest against the new draft law to Assad.



Subsequently, the presidency asked justice minister Ahmad Younes to meet with legal advisers as well as representatives of the Christian community in Syria to discuss the matter on May 27, said the website.



However, it gave no information on the outcome of the meeting.

There are no civil laws in Syria pertaining to marriage, inheritance and divorce.



Currently, these matters are under the jurisdiction of Islamic courts for the country’s Muslims, who constitute 75 per cent of the population, and similar religious courts for other minorities.