Iraq’s parliament has reportedly passed amendments to its personal status law, effectively lowering the legal marriage age for girls to as young as nine, sparking widespread criticism.
According to Mail Online, the amendments grant Islamic courts greater authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce, and inheritance. While the current law sets the minimum marriage age at 18 in most cases, the new changes allow clerics to interpret Islamic law, which in some cases permits the marriage of girls as young as nine under the Ja’afari school of Islamic law, widely followed by Shiite authorities in Iraq.
Proponents of the amendments, primarily conservative Shiite lawmakers, argue that the changes align with Islamic principles and counter Western influence on Iraqi culture.
However, human rights activist Intisar al-Mayali, a member of the Iraqi Women’s League, warned of the devastating consequences for women and girls. “This violates their right to life as children and undermines protections related to divorce, custody, and inheritance,” she stated.
The parliamentary session that approved the amendments was reportedly chaotic, with accusations of procedural violations. A parliamentary official, speaking anonymously, claimed that the session lacked the legal quorum, as half of the lawmakers present did not vote.
Some legislators expressed concerns over the voting process, which bundled multiple controversial laws together. Independent MP Raid al-Maliki said, “We supported the civil status law, but combining it with other laws for a single vote could lead to legal challenges in the Federal Court.”
Despite the controversy, Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani praised the laws’ passage as “an important step in enhancing justice and organizing citizens’ daily lives.”
In addition to the personal status law amendments, the parliament passed a general amnesty law criticized for potentially benefiting individuals involved in corruption and embezzlement, as well as a land restitution law addressing Kurdish territorial claims.
The amendments, first proposed in August, aim to formalize many unregistered marriages, a significant portion of which involve girls under 14. The revisions also allow Muslim couples to choose Sunni or Shia sect representatives to oversee their personal status matters, bypassing the civil judiciary.
Critics argue that these changes will legitimize child marriages and erode protections for women, marking a significant setback for human rights in Iraq.
