Decree-law on the civil personal status of non-Muslims

Abu Dhabi: Salam Abu Shehab

The United Arab Emirates adopted Federal Decree Law no. (41) of 2022 relating to civil personal status, which will enter into force on 1 February 2023 and provides that its provisions apply to non-Muslims residing in the country, unless one of them complies with the application of its law, in regarding articles Marriage, divorce, estates, wills and proof of parentage; Without questioning the provisions of articles 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 of Federal Law no. 5 from 1985, which enacts the Civil Traffic Act and its amendments, which state that it is permitted for those to whom the provisions of this Decree-Law refer, as stipulated in paragraph 1 of Article 1, to agree on the application of other laws that regulate the family or personal status that are in force in the country, instead of applying the provisions of this Regulation-Law, and the provisions of this Regulation-Law shall apply to all events that occur after the entry into force of its provisions, and for calculating the periods specified in this The decree-law uses the Gregorian calendar.

And he prescribed that divorce cases initiated in accordance with the provisions of this decree-law are not submitted to family guidance committees, but are submitted directly to the court for a decision from the first session.

Rights and duties

The application of the provisions of this decree-law takes into account the equality of women and men in terms of rights and duties, and this especially applies to the following issues:

Testimony: Equality in testifying before the court, and the testimony of a woman before the court is considered as the testimony of a man without distinction.

Inheritance: Equality between men and women in the distribution of inheritance according to the provisions of this decree-law.

The right to request a divorce: The husband and wife, each of their own unilateral will, can ask the court to sign the divorce, without questioning their rights related to the divorce.

Joint Custody: Women and men have equal rights to joint custody of the child until the age of eighteen (18), after which the child has freedom of choice.

Civil marriage

It stipulated that the following conditions must be met for a civil marriage contract; There are five conditions: both the husband and the wife are at least twenty-one Gregorian years old, and their age is proven by any official document issued by the country to which each of them belongs according to their nationality, and that the marriage is not between brothers, children, grandchildren, aunts or uncles, and any other cases specified in the Executive Regulations, and that both spouses expressly express their consent to the marriage before the document judge, and that there is no legal reason to prevent reliance on his consent and that the spouses sign the application form, and all other conditions specified in the Executive Regulations of this decree-law.

Marriage proceedings can be concluded before a judge for documentation of the competent court, by submitting a request, according to the form prepared for that purpose; Taking into account the conditions and other procedures prescribed by this decree-law and its implementing regulations, the marriage is concluded so that the spouses fill out the form prepared for this in front of the court judge, and the spouses have the right to agree on the terms of the contract, and the rights of the husband and wife during the marriage are considered between them. , rights after divorce, and in particular joint custody of children, and the marriage contract form must contain a declaration by each of the spouses about the existence of any other previous marital relationship for either of them with an indication of the date of divorce, if any, and the wife’s confirmation that there is no existing marital relationship, and the Husband submits this statement in the event that his legislation does not allow him to polygamy, and in all cases the husband must disclose the existing marital relationship before the judge for documentation, and that the contract includes what indicates the consent of each of them verbally or in writing, and implementing regulations for this regulation specify According to the law approved bilingual civil marriage contract form, and after checking the availability of all conditions of the civil marriage contract, and after completing the procedures specified in this article, the documentation judge confirms the marriage contract, and the marriage contract is completed. Enter it in the register prepared for this purpose.

Divorce and its procedures

The decree-law states that it is sufficient to request and sign a divorce, for one of the spouses to express before the court the desire for a divorce and the discontinuance of the marital union, without the need for this request to justify or state the damage or guilt of the other party, and any of the spouses can request divorce without the need to prove damages; And that according to the form prepared for that purpose, and the divorce occurs by court judgment after notifying the other party.

A divorced woman can submit a request to the court to obtain a decision on maintenance from the divorced person after the decision on divorce has been passed, and all subsequent requests for divorce must be submitted to the court according to the form prepared for this purpose, and in the event that the conditions or controls of this alimony or other financial requirements are not agreed in the marriage contract, acceptance is subject to the request and its duration is decided by the judge, after evaluating the following 9 factors; These are: number of years of marriage; so that the amount of alimony increases with the increase in the number of years of marriage, the age of the wife; so that the value of alimony decreases with the reduction of the wife’s age and vice versa, the property status of each of the spouses; This is according to a report prepared by an accounting expert authorized by the court to assess the economic situation of each of the spouses, the extent of the husband’s contribution to the divorce due to negligence or mistake, or his commission of any act that led to the divorce, and compensation for any material or moral damages which one of the spouses suffered to the other, due to the divorce, and the financial damages suffered by one of the spouses as a result of the request to sign a unilateral divorce. will, and the father took care of the expenses and expenses of the mother’s care of the children during joint custody; This is a temporary period that does not exceed two years according to the results of the accounting expert’s report and the scope of the wife’s interest in childcare or not. Alimony after each year or according to changed circumstances.

Custody of children

The decree-law states that custody of children is the joint and equal right of father and mother after divorce. This is to preserve the mental health of the adopted child, and to reduce the effects of divorce on children. The basis for custody of children is the joint responsibility of the father and mother for the upbringing of the children after the end of the divorce. place, unless both parties submit to the court a request to prove custody of the one, which is worthy of fulfilling the interests of the foster child, or one of them requests a waiver. a request to the court to remove the other party from joint custody and terminate his right to custody for any reason accepted by the court, such as symptoms of suitability, the risk of the person’s involvement in custody or the failure of the joint guardian to perform his duty, and the executive regulations of this decree specify Law on cases of removal of another person from custody and loss of custody rights.

In the event that the father and mother disagree on any issue of joint custody, either of them has the right to submit a request to the court according to the form prepared for this, to object or request the intervention of the court in order to decide the case. dispute, and the court has the discretion to decide what it deems appropriate in the interests of the foster child; This is based on the request of either parent after the divorce.

Procedures

The Council of Ministers issues a guide for inheritance procedures for those to whom the provisions of this decree-law apply, and the wills of those to whom the provisions of this decree-law apply are entered in the register prepared for that in accordance with the procedures specified in the executive regulations of this decree-law . Spouses can fill out a will registration form when signing the marriage contract, to indicate how money is distributed in the event of the death of either of them.

Estates and wills

The decree-law says that the heir has the right to leave a will with all the money he owns in the state for whomever he wants according to the controls determined by the executive regulations of this decree-law. In the absence of a will, half of the inheritance goes to the husband or wife, and the other half is divided equally between the children. There is no difference between men and women, and if the deceased had no children, the inheritance passes to the parents of the deceased in the events of their lives equally between them, or one half passes to one of them in the absence of the other, and the other half passes to his brothers, or the entire inheritance passes to one of the parents in the absence of the other, and in the absence of the testator’s husband, children or brothers, and in the absence of parents, the entire inheritance passes to the testator’s brothers and is divided among them in equal parts, without distinction between men and women, and exceptionally from the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article “Article 11.” Each of the foreigner’s heirs may request the application of the law applicable to the inheritance in accordance with the provisions prescribed in the Civil Transactions Act; That is unless a registered will indicates otherwise.

Proof of parentage

The paternity of a child is determined by marriage or the consent of the father and mother, and the birth certificate of the child is issued in accordance with the applicable legal regulations. The court can order a DNA analysis; And in accordance with the rules that regulate it, and may not issue an order to prove parentage to the person who applies for it except after verifying the following: that the child is of unknown parentage, that the age difference can be attributed to the child being requested, and the Council of Ministers , based on the proposal of the Minister of Justice, can make a decision regulating the procedures and provisions according to it Adoption and foster families and their consequences.

The decree-law also states that the laws and regulations in force in the country are applied in matters that are not provided for by a special provision of this decree-law, and the Council of Ministers adopts executive regulations for this decree-law, and every a provision that contradicts or contradicts the provisions of this decree-law.