The Ministry of Interior stonewalls in registering ten contracted civil marriages

Al Akhbar newspaper published a report on the legal procedures for registering a civil marriage in Lebanon.  According to the newspaper, the Ministry of Interior is dragging its feet in registering contracted civil marriage in an effort to keep the phenomenon “unusual”while ten civil marriages have indeed been contracted in Lebanon during last year.
Al Akhbar recounts the story of Suleiman Gasbatian who contracted a civil marriage last month in the Shouf area after deleting the reference to his confession from his civil register.  A reminder that this move allows the concerned citizen to contract a civil marriage in Lebanon as per the decree of French Higher Commissioner 60 L.R. of the year 1936. Although this particular civil marriage contract was exchanged more than six months ago and the file submitted to the concerned authorities, namely the General Directorate of Personal Status, it has yet to be registered by the Ministry of Interior.  According to legal researcher, Talal al Husseini, the civil register officer is required by law to undertake this procedure in no more than 24 hours after receiving the file and request for registration.
The Minister of Interior, Marwan Charbel, noted for his part that the files need to be “studied” and that there are no intentions to stonewall.  He added that “there are more than 600,000 pending files in his ministry (!!?), and that there are other priorities”.  In commenting on Charbel’s statement, the newspaper notes that the Ministry has no remit except to register these marriages.  Lawyer Nizar Saghieh said that the Ministry is placing all these hurdles and is resorting to delay to ensure that civil marriage is no regular and straightforward occurrence in Lebanon.  He added that the justification used that the files are “being studied” is nothing but an effort to gain time in this process.  However, Saghieh notes that what is of serious concern is the fact that the state has given itself the authority to investigate people’s beliefs and intentions and especially so in the case of those who have deleted their confessions from their civil.  Saghieh adds that this is in clear violation of individual freedoms and freedom of belief.
Source: Al-Akhbar 14 January 2014