The Secretary of the Legislative Committee in the Egyptian House of Representatives Ali Badr announced Sunday that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi instructed that the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb draft the personal status bill. During a phone interview with the “Hadith al-Qahira” (Cairo Talk) show on the “al-Qahira wal Nas” (Cairo and the People) channel, Badr stressed the importance of President Sisi’s directives regarding this law. The Egyptian House of Representatives’ Legislative Committee started preparing to discuss the new personal status law last month. The bill reportedly punishes the arranged marriage of minors with imprisonment and a fine no less than LE50,000. The registrar of the marriage shall be punished with the same penalty if they fail to comply with the stipulated requirements of an official marriage.

Source: Egypt Independent March 22, 2021 11:09 UTC