Personal Status in Iraq or the Tower of Babel : The Rise and Fall of a Torn Identity

International Conference "Minority Law in Arab States: Governing Religious Diversity", Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law Hamburg - Germany

14 - 15 July 2025

Panel IV : 15 july 2025

Abstract :

February 17, 2025 marks a turning point in the complex history of family law in Iraq. With the entry into force of the reform of the Personal Status Code of 1959, the existence of a uniform corpus governing all Muslims comes to an end. From now on, Iraqi Shiites will have the possibility of opting for the application of their own religious precepts to all family law-related issues. With this leap of nearly 66 years back in time, the reign of a synthetic codification, symbol of unity and the overcoming of confessionalism, is now something of the past.
Iraqi Personal status is more than ever fragmented according to sectarian affiliation. By virtue of ancient prerogatives inherited from the Ottoman Empire, non-Muslim minorities (around 4% of the population) have always retained a large degree of autonomy in this area. Christians (14 communities), Jews, Yazidis and Sabaean-Mandeans are subject to rules drawn from their own religious laws. The Muslim family law, which for decades formed a bloc, is today shattered into pieces: The prescriptions of the Jaafari Imami school of jurisprudence shall be codified as a separate law to satisfy the Shia-Islamist political parties. The revolutionary 1959 Code sees its scope of application reduced de facto to Sunni Arabs only. Moreover, Iraqi Kurdistan has its own revised version of the said Code applicable in the territory of this northern autonomous region. In short, twenty distinct statutes coexist to organize (or rather disorganize) the life of the Iraqi family.
The speaker’s aim is to demonstrate the enormous difficulties raised by this exacerbated pluralism regarding the complex articulation of norms and the resolution of internal conflicts of laws. He will also focus on the impact in terms of equality, particularly vis-a-vis women and children.

Program Minority Law in Arab States.

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Ce contenu a été mis à jour le 4 août 2025 à 10 h 22 min.