Divorce, alimony, custody disputes and violence within the family are among the plethora of cases to be dealt with by a new court, which will include sitting women justice. Reem Leila investigates A Family Court is in the offing. The draft law establishing the new court, which was prepared by the legislative committee of the National Council for Women (NCW), has been approved by the Higher Legislative Committee of the Ministry of Justice and is to be put before parliament for enactment, soon. According to Fawzeya Abdel-Sattar, head of the committee, the idea behind the court is to support family relations, for which responsibilities are conceived as being wide-ranging and life-long. For instance, while parents have responsibility for taking care of their children, adult children, too, have obligations towards their elderly parents. The Family Court's role, then, will be to adjudicate family disputes and protect children and other victims of violence in the home. Zeinab Radwan, vice-chair of the NCW's legislation committee, pointed out that the idea of such a court is not novel for Egypt. "This type of court existed in Egypt until the 1952 revolution. At the time they were called Religious Courts. The new Family Court is in fact a modern version." Sameeha Osman, a 47-year-old housewife, was thrilled when she heard about the new judicial body. "This will save women a lot of time, all their cases -- alimony, custody etc -- will be heard by the same court," she told Al-Ahram Weekly. To date, Osman has been wending her way through the legal system for well over a decade. "I have been running between various types of courts for more than 14 years. One court heard my divorce case, another dealt with alimony and yet another ruled in my custody case. It's been torture," she added. Because the new court's paramount goal is to resolve family disputes it will also offer mediation sessions -- free of charge. The Family Court has, consequently, been conceived as a kind of a 'One Stop Centre' that houses not only courtroom facilities, but also services and programmes to assist all members of a family. "Alternative dispute resolution [mediation] processes will be used in divorce cases to assist both parties in resolving their disputes amicably, perhaps saving the couple extensive legal procedures," Abdel-Sattar said. She added that such processes have proven successful in Family Courts around the world and have gained such widespread acceptance that they have become the norm rather than the exception. "For contested divorce cases, less than 0.5 per cent of cases go to trial," Abdel-Sattar told the Weekly. The court will also follow-up on cases to ensure that rulings are implemented within an acceptable time frame so as to ensure that justice is not delayed. In handling and managing family cases, the court is aiming to be effective and expedient. Accordingly the Family Court will not only address legal disputes, but also the emotional issues between married parties. Perusal of Ministry of Justice statistics suggests that establishing a Family Court had become a necessity. According to the ministry, the number of "regular procedure" divorce cases during the past year in the Cairo courts alone reached 2,755. An additional 1,751 Khul' cases (under which the woman petitions, but gives up her rights to property obtained through the marriage) were registered at the North Cairo Court and other 746 at the South Cairo Court. To date, a mere 62 of those cases have been resolved. This clogging of the courts was a major factor behind the Ministry of Justice's adoption of the the NWC's draft law. The proposal also includes appointing female judges and establishing the court at a separate location -- the latter measure being an attempt to make court proceedings easier on children. According to Serri Siam, assistant for legislative affairs to the minister of justice, "There will also be a training course for sociologists and psychologists teaching them how to mediate family disputes." Siam pointed out that as an institution that serves families, the court will have to work to keep pace with societal changes and take the lead in reforming the judicial system in order to address the challenges arising from those changes. The project was recently approved by the minister of justice and it is expected that the draft law will be presented to the People's Assembly within the coming few weeks. Radwan of the NCW highlighted the potential for such a court to improve women's situation, "We are hoping that this draft law will be approved as soon as possible, as women are in dire need of such a court to save them legal hassles." The court also provides a much awaited window of opportunity for women to become judges. "Family Court is an excellent beginning for women to enter the field of the judiciary. When they prove their success in the field they will move on to become judges in the Courts of Appeal and Cassation as well," argues Ezzat Hassanien, head of the Court of Appeals. Only last week Tahani El-Gebali, former attorney at law, was appointed as the first female judge to the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC). The appointment of female judges, however, goes beyond being a victory for women's rights to encompass humanistic gains as well. As Mohsena El-Sayed, a 40-year-old banker who is filing for divorce on grounds of physical abuse, pointed out, "It is so humiliating to find yourself narrating the most intimate details of your private life in front of a male judge. How I wish the judge was a woman. I'm sure that if the judge was a woman, I would be more comfortable," El-Sayed said. Family Court has yet to be put to the test, but for now hopes that it will bring much needed relief to an over-burdened legal system are running high. At the Zananiri Court in Cairo, the Weekly met Madeeha Mohamed, a 33-year-old housewife, who filed for alimony three years ago. She told us, "The legal procedures are slow and agonising. It has been eight years since my divorce -- eight years of continuous suffering just to obtain my basic legal rights. I hope the new Family Court will save people a lot of time."
