Kenya: Comprehensive Marriage Law Enacted
(May 2, 2014) On April 29, 2014, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya signed into law the Marriage Bill, 2014, a comprehensive law consolidating various laws governing religious, customary, and civil...
View ArticleIndonesia: Defense Ministry Circulates Polygamy Rules
(Aug. 12, 2015) As of July 22, 2015, Indonesia’s Defense Ministry has explicitly allowed employees to enter into polygamous marriages. (Defense Ministry Permits Polygamy, JAKARTA POST (Aug. 7, 2015).)...
View ArticleBurma: Four "Race and Religion Protection Laws" Adopted
(Sept. 14, 2015) Four laws known collectively as the Race and Religion Protection Laws, which were submitted to the Parliament of Burma (Myanmar) in December 2014, were adopted this spring by the...
View ArticleBrazil: Registrar Offices Not Allowed to Record Affective Relationships...
(July 5, 2018) The National Council of Justice (Conselho Nacional de Justiça, CNJ) decided by a majority of votes that registrar offices (cartórios) cannot register affective relationships between...
View ArticleGuinea: President Refuses to Approve New Civil Code Legalizing Polygamy
(Jan. 28, 2019) On December 29, 2018, the Guinean Parliament adopted a new Civil Code to replace the one that Guinea has had since 1983. (Guinean Civil Code: Some Advances for Women, but Polygamy...
View ArticleEgypt: Grand Imam Issues Religious Opinion Calling Polygamy Oppression of Women
(Mar. 18, 2019) Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar (the main religious institution in the Sunni Muslim world), stated on March 2, 2019, that the Qur’anic teachings concerning polygamy...
View ArticleSyria: Women's Rights in Light of New Amendments to Syrian Personal Status Law
(Apr. 8, 2019) On February 5, 2019, the People’s Assembly of Syria approved amendments to more than 60 articles of the Personal Status Law issued by Legislative Decree No. 59 of 1953. (President...
View ArticleGuinea: Parliament Approves Civil Code That Would Legalize Polygamy
(Aug. 12, 2019) On May 9, 2019, a large majority of representatives in the National Assembly of Guinea voted in favour of a new Civil Code that would make monogamy the presumed form of marriage but...
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