Iraq’s parliament recently revised and approved amendments to the Personal Status Law which reduced the minimum marriage age for girls to be married to 15 years. This decision marks a major step back from Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law which used to be recognized as one of the most forward-thinking family laws across the Middle East.
Earlier in August 2024, the parliament proposed a law to lower the legal marriage age for girls in Iraq from 18 to 9. However, the decision met with strong opposition from activists and human rights organizations who claimed that the law would snatch the basic rights of girls at a very young age.
After the global outrage, the country’s parliament now revised the amendments and reduced the legal marriage age for girls from 18 to 15, with judicial approval required for marriages at 14.
The changes will strip women of divorce and inheritance rights and grant religious authorities greater control over family matters, The National reported.
Controversy regarding legal marriage age
Previous laws limited marriage to anyone under 18 years old only under strict conditions which demanded both a judge’s consent and the guardians’ endorsement.
However, under these new amendments, families along with religious authorities now have more authority to guide personal decisions while also permitting Shiite religious leaders to establish the power to develop their own Sharia rules for personal status matters.
This Shiite-centric law has raised fears of deepening sectarian divides as religious parties from the Sunni faction demanded that they would maintain the previous marriage age limit of 18 and decline any attempt to implement Sharia legislation.
Human Rights Watch cautioned against diminished legal rights because of affiliation by sect since the repeal of unified national legal standards might cause sectarian divisions to deepen within the country.
Political bargains and sectarian struggles
The amendments for the legal marriage age for girls in Iraq passed collectively with two additional controversial bills which dealt with general amnesty and property restitution in this political package.
The provisions of these amendments target the Sunni and Kurdish party constituencies to secure needed legislative support. The combination of divisive laws together as a single package created disorder within the parliamentary system.
Member of Parliament Mustafa Sanad has described the passage of the amendments as a significant House of Representatives violation. “This House of Representatives is legislating chaos instead of laws,” Sanad said.
After the vote passed opposition members began pressuring for Speaker’s removal, accusing him of allowing an undemocratic legislative process.
Shift in parliamentary power
The new legislation, which allows the marriage age of girls in Iraq to be 15 years, demonstrates the expanding power Shiite parliamentary leaders achieve in Iraq’s legislative body. After Saddam Hussein’s fall in 2003 Shiite parties grew stronger and now command at least 130 out of 329 parliamentary seats.
Through their political power, Shiite leaders succeeded in advancing religious laws based on Shiite jurisprudence even after facing ongoing resistance for years.
