On December 24, 2022, the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, announced the establishment of a new family fund aimed at supporting certain needy, divorced women under a proposed bill to amend the Egyptian personal status law. If adopted in its current form, the proposed bill would establish new marriage requirements that couples intending to marry would have to meet in order to obtain a marriage license, including a mandatory fee that would be paid to the family fund.
Family Support Fund
The new fund aims to support divorced women who do not have financial resources to support themselves after divorce because their former husbands failed to pay their alimony.
The family fund would be financed by the government and fees paid by marrying couples. President Sisi announced that in addition to government contributions, couples who intend to marry would pay a certain amount to the new family fund in order to obtain a marriage license. Although he did not mention a specific amount, President Sisi noted that the amount payable by couples would be affordable for anyone with the funds to get married.
The minister of justice, Omar Marwan, has denied rumors that the government intends to impose 20,000 Egyptian pounds (about US$723) in fees. The minister stressed that the Egyptian authorities have not yet determined the amount that will be required.
Marriage Requirements under the Proposed Law
President Sisi also announced that under the proposed law, couples intending to marry would be required to undergo medical and psychological tests to confirm their qualification to marry and the viability of their planned marriage. After obtaining the results of these tests, a couple wishing to get married would be required to submit them to a family law judge for review. If the judge determined that both parties were qualified to marry, he would then grant permission to a marriage officiator (ma’zoun) to officiate the marriage contract.
Other Contents of the Law
The proposed family law would allow family law judges to treat disputes related to financial support of divorced women as an urgent legal matter. Furthermore, the proposed law aims to unify all legal instruments regulating family matters under one piece of domestic legislation. In addition, the proposed law would regulate how the husband and wife would share the wealth and financial resources that they created during the marriage period if they decided to divorce after a number of years.
Under existing law, Law No. 6 of 2020, a man who fails to pay alimony for more than three months commits a crime that, on conviction, is punishable with a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year, a fine, or both.
Reaction to the Proposed Law
Medical experts and members of the Egyptian Parliament have expressed support for the proposed law.
Issa Wahba, a professor at the medical school of Ain Shams University, argues that psychological exams conducted for couples before they get married help them to understand each other’s personality, which improves the marital relationship.
Member of Parliament Rehab Mousa described the proposed law as a step on the right path to protect marriage in general and divorced women with no financial resources. Mousa also endorsed the unification of all legal instruments on family matters under a single piece of legislation.
According to a news report by Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Egypt has recently witnessed a high demand for concluding marriage contracts due to the fear of the mandatory payment related to the new family fund. One marriage officiator, Said Al-Luli, told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that neither he nor any other marriage officiator in Egypt could sleep because of the large volume of calls that they receive every day to conclude marriage contracts before the Parliament approves the proposed law and obligates couples to pay a certain fee to the new marriage fund.
George Sadek, Law Library of Congress
February 9, 2023
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