Morocco proposes family law reforms to improve women's rights

Morocco aims to grant women more rights over child custody and guardianship as well as a veto over polygamous marriage, in the first review of its family code in 20 years, the justice and Islamic affairs ministers said on Tuesday.

Women's rights campaigners have been pushing for a revision of regulations governing the rights of women and children within the family in Morocco, where Islam is the state religion.

The draft code proposes more than 100 amendments, notably allowing women to stipulate opposition to polygamy in a marriage contract, justice minister Abdellatif Ouahbi told reporters.

In the absence of such opposition, a husband can take a second wife under certain circumstances such as the first wife's infertility, he said, putting more restrictions on polygamy.

It also aims to simplify and shorten divorce procedures, considers chid custody a shared right between spouses and gives either spouse the right to retain the marital home in the event of the other's death, he said.

Divorced women will be allowed to retain child custody upon remarriage and the code will restrict exceptions for underage marriage to 17 years, maintaining the legal marriage age of 18.

While the revised code does not abolish the Islamic-based inheritance rule which grants a man twice the share of a woman, it allows individuals to gift any of their assets to their female heirs, Ouahbi said. But inheritances between spouses from different religions can only occur through wills or gifts.

Moroccan women's rights defenders, who have pushed particularly for equal inheritance laws, could not be reached for immediate comment.

King Mohammed VI, the country's supreme religious authority, said on Monday that the amended code, which has to be submitted to parliament for approval, should be underpinned by "the principles of justice, equality, solidarity and harmony" with Islamic precepts and universal values to protect the Moroccan family.