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Personal Status Law to be implemented soon

ABU DHABI — The Personal Status Law of the UAE is expected to be implemented soon, with training courses for judges and judge assistants scheduled to begin in the next few days to study the law theoretically and apply some sections of it in practice.

"The law will be endorsed shortly," legal sources told Khaleej Times, disclosing that the training courses for judicial staff had already been planned. The law contains 363 Articles and is divided into five chapters. The law, the sources said, will deal with some "loopholes."

Judgments till now were issued in line with the legal perspective of judges. With the new law, all the decision-making processes will be unified, the sources said, adding that a legal committee supervised the drafting of the new law, which was then approved by the Cabinet.

The committee included well-known scholars like Dr Mohammed Wahba Al Zahili, Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Shariah at Sharjah University, Dr Hasan Ahmed Al Hamadi, Professor at the Judicial Training and Studies Institute and judge at the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court and Dr Mohammed Abdul Rahim Sultan Al Ullama, Shariah Professor at the Shariah and Law College at the UAE University.

Under the new law, women would be given the right — known as 'Khulu' — to end an unhappy marriage after taking the case to the Sharia Court. They would have to pay compensation or return the dowry to their husbands before annulling the marriage. This right is there in some legislations in the Arab world.

Officials said the new law also includes several new rules including setting up of a Family Guidance Committee, compensation in cases of breaking up of engagement and conditions of physical fitness before marriage.

They said the Family Guidance Committee would work to ensure reduction in the number of divorce cases in the country.

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