brand logo

Muslim family law reforms soon

03 Jul 2021

  • Draft to Cabinet in the pipeline 

By Yoshitha Perera The Muslim family law reforms could be finalised within the course of next week and the relevant law’s draft could be submitted to Cabinet soon afterwards, The Sunday Morning learnt.  Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Justice Ministry Secretary M.M.P.K. Mayadunne said that the Cabinet had already decided that the minimum age of marriage should be 18 years and it has also decided to make the consent and the signature of the bride mandatory whilst agreeing to prohibit polygamous marriages of Muslims.  He said: “The common consensus of the Advisory Committee on Muslim Law Reforms has been recognised and the draft will be finalised soon.”    Responding to The Sunday Morning’s query, Mayadunne said that the Advisory Committee on the Reform and Review of Family Law had presented its report to Justice Minister M.U.M. Ali Sabry PC on 28 June.    He said: “The special purpose of the 12-member committee, headed by Kushan De Aliws PC, was to update the general marriage and divorce law, which had not been amended since Independence. Accordingly, matters relating to the marriage law and the grounds for filing for divorce are to be changed.”  Mayadunne also said that when arriving at the relevant reforms, the Advisory Committee had considered a number of local reports on policies, minors, matrimonial cases, and family law as well as proposed amendments to the Civil Procedure Code.   He also added that the committee had observed the legal status in relation to this subject in the UK, South Africa, India, and Singapore.    Explaining further, he noted that another important piece of legislation that has been put forward in the relevant resolution is approving the divorce decisions that are taken by Sri Lankans living abroad.   He explained: “Today, many Sri Lankans are living abroad and the inability to register their divorce decisions taken abroad has created a major crisis for minors as well as (in terms of) property in the country. The purpose is to address centuries of legal shortcomings in this regard.” 


More News..