Discrimination and the institution of divorce : a comparative study between international instruments and Islam

Abstract

The aim of this study is to show that divorce is a controversial issue at the level of national and international laws. In fact, the struggle for the preservation of human dignity and protection of human rights and more specifically women's rights after the Second World War has been prevailing. Through this analysis, this work aims at showing that there has been important developments in laws concerning the elimination of discrimination against women, regarding the dissolution of marriage in national and international systems, in order to enhance the basic family life and giving equitable opportunities for men and women in divorce matters. This work provided a display of the major international laws concerning marriage and its dissolution. This work will be discussing the scope oflslamic law, its advantages and limitations in comparison with international law relative to the dissolution of marriage. This work is supplemented by case judgements on the dissolution of marriage from the regional and national courts, western and non-western countries where divorce had been granted and in other cases where divorce had not been granted. This work will stress the importance of personal status codes, which enhance fair and equitable rights and responsibilities for men and women in family issues especially regarding the dissolution of marriage through the use of the case of two Muslim countries Tunisia and Jordan, which tried to abide by international treaties and conventions in the elimination of discrimination against women relative to divorce.