A legal committee formed by Pope Tawadros II convened this week to discuss the draft unified personal status law for all Christian sects. The committee, headed by Bishop Paula who chairs the Coptic Orthodox Church Clerical Council, includes representatives of the Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical churches. It will study the draft and formulate any recommendations for amendments before 26 November. The draft, says Minister of Transitional Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ibrahim Al-Heneidi, was prepared to suit adherents of Egypt's Catholic, Orthodox, and Evangelical churches. It stipulates 11 reasons for nullifying marriage, and substitutes the term “marriage dissolution” for divorce. Under the draft a couple can nullify their marriage in several cases among them are atheism, impotence, or where one of the partners converts to another religion or sects of Christianity disapproved by the church, and for any of the six cases of estoppel adultery. The draft also stipulates 14 reasons for marriage dissolution; among them are the absence of at least two Christian witnesses during the religious marriage ceremony, either partner being below the legal age for marriage at the time of the ceremony, a Christian man marrying a non-Christian woman, or should one of the spouses already be married. The draft addresses issues of child custody and includes a section on civil marriage. It obliges the church to recognise children resulting from the second marriages of Copts whose initial divorce was granted in civil courts with church approval. According to the draft, civil marriage — which the church does not yet recognise — should follow the same procedures as religious marriage, only take place at the Notarisation Authority instead of in church. The committee, says Bishop Paula, will thoroughly review the draft to ensure it is compatible with Coptic doctrine. According to the church, many of the principles included in the new draft are based on a 1938 Maglis Melli (community council) opinion, composed by people with little knowledge of Coptic Christianity, which allowed divorce if one of several conditions pertained: adultery; conversion to another religion or sect; absence for a period of five consecutive years with no news of whereabouts; sentencing of one of the spouses to seven years or more in prison; mental illness, contagious illness or impotence; serious domestic violence; debauchery or immoral behaviour; separation for at least three years as a result of untenable marital life or in the case of a spouse joining a monastery. According to Christianity, divorce can only happen if one of the spouses is shown to be guilty of adultery. The church affirms that the number of Christians seeking divorce does not exceed 200 cases per year. Andrea Zaki, deputy head of the Evangelical Church, believes the new draft is a positive step towards ending years of dispute. “The draft, after approval, will solve many problems for Copts. The committee will thoroughly study the draft as the church can never accept any ruling or law that is against Biblical teachings,” says Zaki. Zaki believes it would have been better for the government to have consulted the church ahead of the drafting of the unified personal status law rather than present a draft already prepared. Pressure for a new unified personal status law has been growing for years. Recently President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi instructed all concerned authorities to finalise a unified personal status law for Christians in order to solve pending problems. Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights (EUHR), argues that for at least three decades officials have considered the whole issue from a purely political perspective, ignoring growing discontent in both the church and the Coptic community. To avoid future disputes it is now essential, Gabriel believes, for a unified law agreed by all Christian churches. “The advantage of the new draft is that it expands the reasons for providing married couples a divorce by including estoppel adultery. That means it is unnecessary for anyone to be caught red handed. It will be sufficient to provide evidence that proves the adultery of one of the such as a letter, or a recorded phone call,” says Gabriel. According to the EUHR more than 12,000 Christians are suffering because of their inability to secure a divorce. “The numbers grow by at least 600 every year,” he says. Gabriel warns that the draft presented by the government will not be approved until several amendments have been introduced. “The Church insists Biblical teachings allow divorce in only two cases, adultery and difference in religion, while marriage annulments will be granted only in cases where one or both parties were forced to marry, or if the marriage was based on deception. Nothing will change,” he added. In 2010 the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) issued a ruling which allows the remarriage of divorced Christians. The ruling was subsequently annulled by the Supreme Constitutional Court after Pope Shenouda II appealed the ruling. Sameh Fawzi, a Coptic political analyst says that “many Christians are suffering in their marriages and are seeking divorce as well as a remarriage licenses. Unfortunately, the Church does not provide divorce to married couples, nor does it recognise civil marriage. Everyone is suffering from this vicious circle.”
