Divorce Formulas in the UAE Personal Status Law

According to the UAE Personal Status Law and its explanatory memorandum, divorce signifies the termination of a valid marriage contract, and there are several aspects regarding the divorce formula that require discussion from the cultivation of jurisprudence and law.

 

The explicit word in divorce according to language or custom: is that which does not imply non-divorce, as divorce occurs without the need for intention. As for the metaphorical word, it is that which implies divorce other than divorce, so divorce does not occur with it except with intention, as stated in the Maliki and Shafi’i schools of thought. Intention cannot be proven except by the speaker’s own statement, and he bears the sin if he is not honest in his statement. The metaphor does not cause divorce except with intention, according to the most correct of the two opinions of scholars, unless it is translated in writing what indicates the intention to pronounce divorce, in which case divorce occurs.

 

Paragraph (2) of Article (99) of the Personal Status Law stipulates that divorce occurs by utterance and also by clear utterance as stated in the Maliki, Nafasi, and Shafi’i schools of thought. As it occurs by utterance, it occurs from the one who is unable to do either of them by the sufficiently advanced sign or the sign indicating divorce which does not bear any other meaning, and it is like the explicit word for the one who is able to do it, which is the Shafi’i and Hanbali schools of thought. Therefore, it is possible for divorce to occur by writing, but the presence of intention is required for that. For example, if he wrote without intention, the divorce does not occur “because writing is possible, as he intended by it to test the pen, improve the handwriting, and grieve” “the family, without intention.” Therefore, the presence of intention is required with the writing.

 

Here we explain that a conditional divorce does not occur unless it is intended as divorce, and the two intended types are if the condition is based on a condition and that condition is fulfilled, such as the husband saying (If you leave the house, you are divorced), or if the condition is in the sense of an oath and an urging to do or not do something, and the first is divorced, and the second is not, but expiation is required when the condition is fulfilled. The law has adopted the opinion that the oath of divorce is cancelled, and the jurists have agreed that divorce does not occur if it is based on will, such as the husband saying you are divorced, God willing.

 

However, if the condition is fulfilled before it is stipulated, then the divorce is complete and not conditional. Then, adopting that the divorce does not occur based on doing something or not doing something is the closest, unless the divorcer intended divorce by that.

 

The law also noted the problem of pronouncing divorce three times with one word accompanied by a number or a gesture, which is a well-known issue. The schools of thought differed among themselves regarding the jurisprudential ruling on it, whether it was related to repeated divorce in one session or to the word of divorce accompanied by a number, verbally or by gesture. The law settled on the fact that divorce accompanied by a number, verbally or by gesture, only occurs as one divorce. Based on the above, repeating the word of divorce in one session is considered one divorce, but divorce in writing is not taken into account unless it is accompanied by intention. The husband is the one who has the right to divorce, as he is the one who pronounces it or declares it, and the judge documents it if the conditions for pronouncing divorce are met in the person upon whom it occurs or in its wording.

 

Finally, divorce is related to the right of God Almighty. If the husband pronounces it outside the courtroom, then the matter is brought before the judge and it is proven that it has occurred with the fulfillment of its conditions, then the judge rules that it has occurred from the date of its occurrence because not pronouncing it leads to the continuation of an illegitimate marital life with the sin and undesirable consequences that follow from that.

 

https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/1033

https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/1033