Khaberni - New regulatory features for the marriage contract appeared in the context of the Egyptian Parliament's efforts to regulate the contractual relationship from its first moment during the discussion of the new personal status law for the Muslim family.
According to Egyptian media, Section Two of the project, which was presented by the government to the House of Representatives, stipulates that a wife has the right to judicially demand the annulment of the marriage contract within no more than six months from the date of its conclusion, if it is proven that the husband claimed untrue qualities that were essential in her acceptance of the marriage, provided that no pregnancy or childbirth occurs during that period.
The project also emphasized the controls for witnessing the marriage, stipulating the presence of two sane, adult Muslim witnesses who are capable of hearing and understanding the intent of the contract, with a minimum age requirement of not less than eighteen years, as part of the legislator's concern to ensure the accuracy of the documentation procedures and prevent any ambiguities that might surround the contract's validity.
In defining marriage, the project clarified that it is a legal covenant that unites a man and a woman with the intention of forming an independent family based on affection and mercy, carried out through an official contract based on mutual consent, in the presence of witnesses, and documented by the competent registrar or relevant official entity. This definition affirms the unity of religious and legal dimensions simultaneously, which enhances the stability of the family entity.
As for the mechanisms of expressing consent, the project required that it be done through clear and explicit statements indicating the marriage agreement, with the possibility of resorting to writing or signaling in cases where verbal expression is not feasible, provided that these means unequivocally reflect the intentions of both parties without room for interpretation.
The project put precise controls on the validity of the contract session, including the unity of the session between proposal and acceptance, not suspending them on a condition or delaying them, with the necessity for acceptance to explicitly match the proposal, and continuity of the session without interruption that implies a withdrawal.
It also emphasized the necessity of full consent between the parties, by hearing each other and understanding the content of the contract, whether it occurred in person or through various communication means.
In related context, the project provided specific regulation for cases of early divorce, obligating a husband wishing to divorce within the first three years of marriage to approach the provisional matters judge at the Family Court to complete the procedures before formalizing the divorce, where he is required to submit an application accompanied by fundamental documents, and the judge summons both parties to try and resolve and understand the reasons for the conflict.
The project allows the judge the authority to hold closed sessions to discuss with the spouses, with the possibility of enlisting the support of an accredited religious figure to support reconciliation efforts, considering the wife's absence despite notification as a rejection of settlement attempts, while the husband's absence is considered a retraction of his desire to follow through with the divorce, reflecting a legislative direction to elevate the chances of de-escalation before ending the relationship.
This project comes in the context of a broader orientation within Egypt toward modernizing the personal status system, by establishing rules that balance rights and duties, enhancing the principle of transparency prior to marriage, alongside setting proactive mechanisms to regulate divorce and minimize its consequences, thus supporting the stability of the family as the core of society.
