Arwa Al-Husseini - January 18, 2013
"We
state of our own accord and without any coercion, as equals in and
before the law according to the preamble of the constitution and its
commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially
Article 16 of said declaration, that the man among us has taken the
woman as his wife, and that the woman has taken the man as her husband
…”
This is but one expression in the marriage contract signed by Kholoud Succariyeh and Nidal Darwish, who were married in Lebanon’s
first civil ceremony. As is the case with any Lebanese couple who
chooses this form of union, they were supposed to travel to Cyprus,
where civil marriage is permitted. But then Kholoud met by chance a
civil society activist who proposed that Kholoud’s wedding be the first
civil marriage held in Lebanon. Thus started Kholoud and Nidal’s journey.
“I
was attending a lecture about the art of photography, and while waiting
for Nidal, I noticed this poster saying: Let us get to know civil
marriage and secularism before they take us to sectarianism,” Kholoud
told NOW. “A woman came to me and said, ‘Secularism is not against
religion,’ and I answered, ‘I know. Just because I am veiled this
doesn’t mean I’m against secularism.’ And in order to prove my point, I
told her that [Nidal and] I were getting ready to go to Cyprus to have a civil marriage.
“It was then that she told me about the attempt to celebrate the first civil marriage in Lebanon.
I discussed the idea with Nidal, and we told her we agreed on condition
of total anonymity, as we feared our parents would not accept it. We
then met with [lawyer] Talal Husseini, who prepared the draft study, and
had several sessions with him in order for him to make sure that we
were ready for such a step.”
Preparations
for the marriage began after Kholoud and her parents reached an
agreement on “being spoken for” as per formal religious rules, without
registering the marriage at a Muslim religious tribunal.
The
first step was to strike out the mention of both Kholoud’s and Nidal’s
sects from their respective IDs to prove before the law that they are
not affiliated with a sect that forces them to marry before a religious
court. They thus acquired the right to hold a civil marriage as per
Article 60 L.R.
Then
they had to obtain a form signed by the mayor proving that there are no
objections to their marriage and put the marriage announcement up on a
billboard 15 days before the wedding date to make sure that there were
no objections to it. The announcement was supposed to be published in
the Official Gazette or at least two newspapers, but in order to prevent
any hindrances, Kholoud and Nidal just posted the announcement on the
doors of their parents’ houses and on the door of their own house. They
also had to obtain a legal document signed by a notary public after both
parties chose the articles included in the marriage contract as well as
a financial disclosure that guarantees the rights of each party to the
marriage.
After
a few snags in obtaining the necessary paperwork, Kholoud and Nidal
signed their civil marriage contract on November 10, 2012, thus making
them the first Lebanese couple to be wedded by civil marriage in Lebanon.
The request is now in the hands of the Consultations Committee at the
Ministry of the Interior pending its official announcement.
On
the legal level, Husseini, who authored the draft, explained that “The
marriage was held based on Decree No. 60 L.R. – a numeration of decrees
adopted by the High Commissioner [during the French Mandate in Lebanon] –
of 1936, which organizes and recognizes sects and grants them rights.
The same decree also recognizes individuals, and we used this same law
to strike out the reference to sect [on one’s ID].”
Applying
Decree No. 60 L.R. for people who are not officially affiliated to any
sect provides a solution for civil marriage, he added. “Not being
affiliated to a sect does not mean not being a believer; it is merely
not making an administrative disclosure of one’s sect and subjecting
[instead] to civil courts.”
Lebanese
law imposes constraints on enjoying the right to marriage, Husseini
argues. “Let us suppose that a person wants to marry and there’s no law.
This means there are no constraints to enjoying the right to marriage
unless the marriage one is about to enter into contravenes the
constitution, genera order or good ethics. Civil marriage is the only
[form] that fits the constitution, which includes provisions about
freedom and equality; it is the constitution, rather than religious
marriage, that provides freedom and equality,” Husseini said.
Good-natured attempts to ensure the right to civil marriage in Lebanon,
Husseini said, are often misdirected. “Some people were calling for a
law pertaining to civil marriage and propose incomplete drafts that are
not the object of enough study or serious public debate. In so doing,
they act as though they need to give [people] the right [to choose civil
marriage] and as though there is no legislation. Yet this is not true:
Legislation does exist, and there is no way to misinterpret the
provisions of Decree No. 60 L.R., which includes a reference to a law.
This is either a reference to a French law – and this is the most
probable option – or to a civil law according to the person’s own
choice, or to any ample provisions for the organization of marriages.”
“The
law allows the two people who wish to marry the right to choose the
provisions that suit them in the contract. In contrast, religious
marriage – or some forms of it – is subjected to the Ottoman family law
with regard to certain provisions. When we say that Decree No. 60 L.R.
is a reference to French civil marriage, this makes it part of the
Lebanese law. Furthermore, the French law does not contravene the
constitution or sectarian bylaws or public order, and is applicable in
courts located in France, Turkey, Cyprus or Switzerland between Lebanese
[couples] or [a couple formed by] a Lebanese person and a non-Lebanese
person. In other words, it is applicable in Lebanese civil courts and
this does not cause any problems.”
Kholoud
and Nidal chose civil marriage because they believe it is the best
expression of a relationship built on true partnership, equality and
rejection of dependency. Will the Lebanese state adopt civil marriage as
a gateway to break sectarian constraints and build a civil state?
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