Iraq: Revised 'sectarian' law that raised fears over child marriage passed without vote

An Iraqi "sectarian" bill that could legalize child marriage has reportedly passed in parliament without a vote. The parliament website stated that proposals to "amend the Personal Status Law" and the "Second Amendment to the General Amnesty Law" both passed on Tuesday.

MP Noor Nafi stated that parliament passed the Personal Status Law and the General Amnesty Law "without a vote," saying that MPs "did not raise their hands." She wrote on X that some MPs left the session due to the "farce."

The new law will require Muslim couples to choose between Sunni or Shia when they enter into a marriage contract. They may select the sect to represent them in "all personal status matters," instead of civil judicial authorities. Previous versions of the bill – often shelved after public outcry – explicitly called for allowing nine-year-olds to legally marry, a situation legal experts warned could be permitted under some interpretations of religious law followed by some Shia, known as Jaafari jurisprudence.

Many Iraqi marriages are not registered and are instead officiated by religious figures, making them illegal under the current Personal Status Law. MP Mohammed Anouz told AFP that the amended version of the bill reinstates clauses from the old law that set the marriage age at 18, or 15 with the consent of a legal guardian and a judge. Clerics and lawyers will have four months to develop community-specific regulations.

Women’s and civil rights activists have warned of the impact the legislation will have on women and families. "The proposed amendments take us back centuries – the Iraqi Personal Status Law is one of the best laws in the region," Inas Jabar, a member of Coalition 188, previously told Middle East Eye. "So, if the amendments are approved, it means we are deviating from national identity towards sectarian regulations, which will threaten the social fabric."

Coalition 188 is a group of NGOs, politicians, and activists who oppose the amendments to the Personal Status Law, also known as Law 188, and who launched protests against the amendments last year. The 1959 law was passed under the left-wing nationalist government of Abdul-Karim Qasim, who pushed through several progressive reforms, including increased rights for women. However, since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, right-wing Iraqi political parties have tried to roll back those rights.

Previous versions of the bill included provisions that would have banned Muslim men from marrying non-Muslims, legalized marital rape, and prohibited women from leaving home without their husband's permission. The latest version is significantly less explicit, but activists fear its passage will allow religious authorities to introduce new rules through their established personal status codes. The draft requires Shia and Sunni endowments to submit a "code of legal rulings" to parliament six months after the amendments are approved, stipulating that the Shia code would be based on Jaafari jurisprudence.

"With this amendment, all marriages must be registered as Sunni or Shia. Thus, sectarian divisions are entering all families," said Yanar Mohammed, president of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq. "Moreover, civil courts that deal with marriage and divorce may become obsolete and will no longer defend women’s access to alimony, child custody, or other rights." Mohammed told Middle East Eye that the Shia coalition "Coordination Framework," which dominates the government, and its allies are attempting to impose these "outdated" laws on Iraqis to distract from their own failures, including "massive corruption."