WUNRN
CEDAW & MUSLIM FAMILY LAWS
Direct Link to Full 87-Page
Publication:
Computer can increase type size for
easier reading.
This
report documents the trends identified in the Musawah research project on the
Convention on the Elimination of All Kinds of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), which examined States Parties' justifications their failure to
implement CEDAW with regard to family laws and pratices that discriminate
against Muslim women.
2.2.1 STATEMENTS ON RESERVATIONS TO
THE CEDAW CONVENTION - Page 6
"The CEDAW Committee has
written and commented extensively on reservations to the CEDAW Convention in
both its 1998 Statement on Reservations, as well as in numerous references in
its Concludiing Observations.......
......................................................................................................
WUNRN Additions for Information:
CEDAW Convention Member State
Ratifications & Reservations: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en
CEDAW Committee General
Recommendation No. 4 on Country Reservations to the Convention:
CEDAW Committee Statement on
Reservations to CEDAW Convention:
.............................................................................................................
Continued CEDAW & Muslim Family
Laws - p. 6:
The CEDAW Committee also remains
convinced that reservations to CEDAW Convention Article 16, whether lodged for
national, traditional, religious, or cultural reasons, are incompatible with
the Convention and therefore., impermissible and should be reviewed and
modified or withdrawn.
......................................................................................................
1.
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in
particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:
(a)
The same right to enter into marriage;
(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent;
(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;
(d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters relating to their children; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights;
(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family name, a profession and an occupation;
(h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable consideration.
2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory.
.............................................................................................................
Continued CEDAW & Muslim Family
Laws - pp.6-7:
The CEDAW Committee's stand is
based, inter alia, on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which
clearly sets out that a treaty "is binding upon the parties to it and must
be performed by them in good faith," and that a State may not make any
reservation that "is incompatible with the object and purpose of the
treaty."
Hence, when reviewing countries with
reservations to the CEDAW Convention, the CEDAW Committee has consistently
urged governments to withdraw their reservations, particularly with respect to
reservations to Article 16.
The Committee has commented on
reservations to the CEDAW Convention made ostensibly on the basis of protecting
the rights of Muslim minorities, noting its concern about such reservations and
recommending withdrawl. For example, the Committee reiterated to
Singapore "that it considers reservations to Articles 2 and 16 to be contrary
to the object and purpose of the Convention." It "encouraged the
State party to engage in a multi-stakeholder consultation, with women fully
represented in each group, on the extent and scope of its reservations and
their impact on all women's enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the CEDAW
Convention," and requested analysis on the scope and impact of the
reservations.
2.2.2 LEGAL SYSTEMS & CONFLICT
OF LAWS
In its review of several States
Parties, the CEDAW Committee noted with concern discrepancies between Shari'ah
law and the CEDAW Convention. The Committed asked how the legal system
addressed any inconsistencies or which system would prevail in the case of
conflict of laws.......The CEDAW Committee has also asked what is being done to
reconcile and harmonise a State Party's obligations under the CEDAW Convention
and the requirements under Shari'ah, and has recommended that governments bring
all of their laws into full compliance with the CEDAW Convention......
___________________________________________________________