New optional civil marriage law in pipeline charging a fee to be paid to the confessional group of the husband!

A law proposal for an "optional” civil marriage developed by the Minister of Justice Shakeeb Kortbawi was published yesterday on the Ministry's website.  According to this new law proposal, Lebanese citizens may contract a civil marriage in Lebanon without necessarily having to delete their confessional identification from the civil registry.  The law proposal introduces some revisions in a number of legal clauses notably the clause 25 from the decree 60 L.R, issued on 13/3/1936, which stipulates that if a civil marriage is contracted in Lebanon or outside, it will be regulated by the civil law chosen by the spouses on condition that it does not violate public order.  In addition, clause 2 of the personal status law issued on 7/12/1951 is regulated and whereby the civil registry officer is provided with the mandate to regulate a civil marriage contract within his jurisdiction.  The law proposal also abolishes the clauses 79 of the civil procedures (Legislative Decree no. 90 issued on 16/9/1983) as a result of which civil courts become mandated to rule over such civil marriages contracted in Lebanon and not only those contracted outside Lebanon.  The new law also imposes a flat fee of LBP 500,000 to be paid to the religious court to which the husband is affiliated.
In reacting to this new proposal, the Legal Agenda considered that this new law proposal has broken a previous taboo by abolishing decree 53 and whereby Muslim confessions and laws become subject to being endorsed by the state.  This, according to the legal group, will undoubtedly be met with serious resistance from within the Muslim confessions.  From another side, the Legal Agenda considers that this new law has not addressed the legal loophole which came up as a result of the civil marriages contracted and recognised in Lebanon in 2013 through the new clause 25 which refers to public order thus leaving the judge wit the discretion to define what public order is.  The Legal Agenda also criticized the prohibitive fee of LBP 500,000 which makes such marriages only accessible to members of certain classes and also creates a precedent whereby the state raises funds for religious courts.  The Legal Agenda concludes that this law proposal reflects an intention to defuse the growing fear among religious institutions of loosing income as a result of increased civil marriages.  In addition, in prioritizing the confession of the husband the law clearly reflects patriarchal and discriminatory mindsets.
Source: Al-Safir 30 January 2014