Marriage Laws: Saudi's new draft bill more progressive than Lanka's

This week, the Saudi government announced it is rolling out personal law reforms on marriage rules according to Islamic principles after a review by its Shoura Council.

It is far more progressive than Sri Lanka's Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) which still denies Muslim women from placing their own signature in marriage registration certificates and legalises child marriage at the age of 12.

A quick view of Saudi's new draft law suggests that girls under the age of 18 cannot be married. They can file lawsuits and review their marriage contracts.

Currently, the Justice Ministry is pursuing reforms into the MMDA by bringing amendments to abolish polygamous and child marriages. Recently, the subject Minister submitted a Cabinet paper on these issues but it was withdrawn later after concerns were raised in the Cabinet. On this occasion, though, the Minister did not offer his resignation.

There have been calls for Parliamentarians, influential clergy and civil society representatives of the community to get involved in the process to reform the century- old legislation. Unless, these reforms will be introduced by a Presidential committee studying the "one country; one law" principles.