International conference in the Hague pays tribute to Tunisia’s Code of Personal Status

Tunis , July 19, 2006 (TunisiaOnline)

The Tunisian Code of Personal Status was hailed by many international legal experts in the Hague as a pioneering legislation and a example that still deserves special attention fifty years after its adoption.

The Code of Personal Status, adopted by Tunisia in 1956, guarantees women their rights. The code includes provisions banning such practices as polygamy, forces marriages and out-of-court divorce.

During a conference organized, on July 13, by the International Academy of Law of the Hague and hosted by the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace at the Hague Peace Palace, top law experts discussed the significance of the Tunisian Code of Personal Status for Arab-Moslem nations and for the whole world. Many of the speakers expressed the view that the Personal Status Code is still a unique model for pro-women reform, especially in the Arab Moslem world.



In the words of Mrs Renee Jones Bos, director general of the regional and consular policy at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs “the position of Tunisian women is unequalled anywhere in the Arab world.” He noted, in particular, the “high proportion of high-ranking posts in Tunisia held by women”. The speaker added that, “by implementing the Personal Status Code, the Tunisian authorities are showing that it is definitely possible to combine Islam with equal rights for women.”

In Tunisia today, 22.7 % of the members of the Chamber of Deputies are women, so are 34 % of the magistrates, 40 % of the university professors and 57 % of the university students.
Mrs Rosalyn Higgins, President of the International court of justice said that “Tunisia which adopted its Code of Personal Status on 13 August 1956, just a few months after independence, can be seen as a pioneer in the field” adding that “From its entry into force, the Code has recognized a whole range of women’s rights, abolishing polygamy, doing away with forced marriages, prohibiting spouse repudiation, and legalizing divorce”. Saying she was pleased to support the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Code of Personal Status, Mrs Higgins concluded her address by remarking that in Tunisia “women’s rights are now embedded as national values”.

Mrs Kalthoum Mezioui, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tunis, highlighted the revolutionary character of the Code of Personal Status, insofar as the status of women and families are concerned.

Mr Yves Daudet, University of La Sorbonne professor and secretary general of the International Academy of Law of the Hague, said the adoption by the code testifies to the “exceptional aptitude for progress and modernity” by Tunisia.

Mrs Hamida Mrabet Labidi, Tunisia’s ambassador at the Hague , also spoke . She said the Tunisian government is fully committed to working for the rights of women and the Personal Status Code is matter of pride for Tunisian women today.

The conference was attended by a number of senior diplomats in the Hague and by high-ranking international magistrates, including Mrs Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor at the International Penal tribunal and Mr Fausto Pocar, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The Personal Status Code was initiated, fifty years, by President Habib Bourguiba, Tunisia’s first President. It was amended in 1993 by President Ben Ali who introduced new provisions further consolidating the rights of women.
For more on the status of Tunisian women : http://www.tunisiaonline.com/women/


For more on the status of Tunisian women : http://www.tunisiaonline.com/women