Controversial laws passed in Iraqi parliament amid chaos, child marriage fears rise:

Iraq’s parliament passed three highly contentious laws on Tuesday, including amendments to the country’s personal status law that critics say will effectively legalize child marriage.

The session, which ended in chaos and accusations of procedural violations, also saw the passage of a general amnesty law and a land restitution law.

The amendments to the personal status law grant Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Opponents argue this undermines Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, which established crucial protections for women. Human rights activists, such as Intisar al-Mayali, of the Iraqi Women’s League, expressed deep concerns that the new measures will lead to the marriage of girls at a very young age, violating their right to life as children and disrupting mechanisms for their protection in divorce, custody and inheritance.

Currently, Iraqi law sets the minimum marriage age at 18 in most cases. However, the new changes would allow clerics to apply their interpretations of Islamic law, which in some instances permits the marriage of girls as young as 9, particularly under the Jaafari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite authorities.

The parliament also passed a general amnesty law that has been criticized for potentially benefiting both Sunni detainees and people involved in corruption and embezzlement. This law alongside the new family law is seen as catering to hardliners in the chamber.

The third law passed on Tuesday aimed to address Kurdish territorial claims, another highly controversial issue in the country.

The passage of the laws was met with significant opposition and accusations of irregularities, with some lawmakers claiming that the legal quorum was broken during the vote. Legislators from different blocs criticized the decision to vote on all three controversial laws together, rather than separately, a move that is expected to lead to legal appeals at the Federal Court.

Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al- Mashhadani praised the passage of the laws, calling them “an important step in the process of enhancing justice.”

Separately, at least three officers, including the national security chief of the al-Tarmiyah district north of Baghdad, were killed in an explosion at an ammunition depot.

Source; CNN