The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is all set to bring in new federal-decree law on personal status with effect from February 1, 2023. As per a report by Khaleej Times, the Federal Personal Status Law will regulate marriage conditions and the procedures of contracting and documenting the marriage before the courts.
The new law will change divorce procedures in the country, setting down how to formalise contracts – whether initiated by one or both parties. The new family law will also regulate procedures for inheritance, wills and proof of paternity.
Brief Conditions For New Divorce Laws
The new law will acknowledge civil marriage contracts, provided that they meet a set of conditions:
- Spouses must be at least 21-years-old and a declaration form must be filled out in front of a judge
- To file for divorce under the new law, one spouse must inform the court of their intent to terminate the marriage, “without having to justify, explain or blame the other spouse”
- They can request a divorce without proving that any harm was done during their marriage
Speaking with Khaleej Times, legal expert Dr Hasan Elhais from Al Rowaad Advocates lauded the law, saying this will give women equal rights in court procedures. He also added,
One more important change is that alimony is now calculated and decided based on several factors that include years of marriage, the financial status of both spouses, and the extent of how much the husband is responsible for the divorce.
UAE Court Fines Wife Dh50,000 For Cheating On Husband; Grants Divorce & Child Custody To Man
Custody of Children
As for child custody, it will be granted equally to both parents unless one submits a request to the court seeking to exclude the other based on the best interests of the child.
Inheritance
Under the new law, a non-Muslim expat can construct a will to transfer assets to whoever they choose. In case of absence of a will, half of the properties will be automatically transferred to the surviving spouse and the rest in equal split among the children. In the Sharia law, the majority inheritance would go to the male child.
Paternity
Paternity for non-Muslims will be based on marriage or paternity recognition. Tests will be conducted if the parents are unknown.
Equal Laws For Men, Women
The UAE government hopes the move will enhance its status as an attractive destination for talent from around the world. The law will apply to all non-Muslims in the country. Equal legal rights for men and women were among the changes announced last year.
Speaking with Time Out Dubai media outlet, a government statement said:
The provisions of the decree-law apply to non-Muslim foreigners residing in the country unless someone adheres to the application of his country’s law.
Moreover, non-Muslim foreigners may agree to implement other legislation on family or personal status in force in the UAE instead of the provisions of this decree-law.
Personal Status for Non-Muslim Expatriates
The non-Muslim personal status court was inaugurated in Abu Dhabi in December 2022, to provide a flexible judicial mechanism to settle family disputes for non-Muslims.
Procedures of the court will be in Arabic and English to facilitate the understanding of legal proceedings by foreigners to strengthen the transparency of the judicial system.
VFMI Take:
- Almost every other country in the world has been amending its personal laws, which allows easy exit for spouses from an abusive or dead marriage
- Almost all jurisdictions look at number of years in marriage, whether couple has kids or not, fixed maintenance timelines, education qualifications and earning capacity of wife to enable them come back to their professional life in case of divorce (also referred to as ‘rehabilitative alimony’)
- However, in India, women rights activists have played their cards extremely well over the decades, where adultery has been decriminalised, but maintenance for life to married woman remains, even if she leaves husband’s home within 1 day
- Currently, courts are flooded with interim maintenance cases, arguing upon quantum, without single charge against husband being proven
- Several judgements will carry statements/order to husbands to ‘beg, borrow, steal but pay up fully-abled wives’, even if they have lost job due to genuine reasons
- Once interim maintenance is awarded, the same continues for next 10-15 years, thanks to the pace of our justice system
- Custody of children are handed over to mothers in 95% + cases, while separated fathers have been reduced to ATMs ‘maintaining estranged wife and child’ — without being permitted to even see their kids
- Current matrimonial laws in India, particularly the Hindu Marriage Act, is nothing short of a legal extortion system against men, that indirectly funds a well oiled system
- With Government of India looking to bring in Uniform Civil Code, one can only hope that laws are progressive and framed in a balanced way, considering the change in times, unlike previous governments who are responsible in arming only and only the wives with gender biased laws
- On the other hand, in August 2022, Union Law Minister, Kiren Rijiju, refuted any plans of allowing divorce in India on grounds of ‘irretrievable breakdown in marriage’
- There is also a massive push by left wing feminists to bring in Marital Rape Law in India – which will once again enable disgruntled wives to turn every matrimonial dispute into rape by husband. This will also lead to big alimony settlements since there is no punishment for a woman in India who files false cases
- The Marital Rape PIL is being heard in Supreme Court – where 2 out of 3 judges have already publicly expressed in the past, their vote in favour of criminalising the same (pls note sexual violence within marriage is already covered under 498A IPC, 377 IPC, Domestic Violence Act 2005)
- India can never become Vishwaguru, if it believes in appeasing only one gender – the women – and completely suppressing men by bringing in more and more biased laws in favour of women
- We do not believe in making women atmanirbhar, we believe in ’empowering’ them with biased laws, freebies and privileges for life – Come 3022, India will still remain a patriarchal country!
- Its time India puts in fixed timeline to end dark chapters of life, thereby allowing both parties to restart a new life
- At present, matrimonial laws are designed to satisfy false ego of estranged wives, thus not allowing speedy justice to genuine victims
LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW:
UAE Announces New Divorce Laws For Non-Muslims; No Fault Divorce, Shared Parenting, Alimony Calculation Dependent On Years In Marriage
▪️Alimony will be decided basis 'how much husband is responsible for divorce'@narendramodi @AmitShah @KirenRijijuhttps://t.co/Jv0MxkY3Fu
— Voice For Men India (@voiceformenind) January 29, 2023
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