Draft Domestic Violence Law

By virtue of Decree no. 4116, dated May 28, 2010, the Lebanese government referred to Parliament a draft law on the protection of women from domestic violence. The Joint Parliamentary Committees on May 24, 2011- about one year later- in order to discuss the draft law, established an ad-hoc committee. Over the course of 14 months, the committee has held 39 sessions, the last of which on July 31, 2012, ended with the approval of the draft law and the insertion of a few amendments thereto. In their turn, the Joint Parliamentary Committees gave their go-ahead and the draft law is now awaiting the approval of the Parliament’s General Assembly.

How It All Started

The law against domestic violence was first drafted in 2008 by the NGO KAFA- Enough Violence and Exploitation, but it was not until 2009 that it was handed over to the Cabinet through the Ministry of Justice. On June 2, 2009, a ministerial committee headed by the then Administrative Development Minister Ibrahim Chamseddine was formed and reformulated the draft law in light of the comments given by the Jaafarite Court, the Greek Orthodox dioceses of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, the head of the Higher Druze Court of Appeal and the Sunni religious courts, which opposed to Article 26 for undermining the role and the capacities of both Christian and Muslim religious courts.

Article 26

Initially, Article 26 stipulated the “cancellation of all texts contradictory to the provisions of the draft law.” However, it was amended later to read as follows: “Any judicial authority, including all religious and spiritual bodies, should report to the family court or to the Public Prosecution any form of domestic abuse it suspects during execution of its judicial responsibilities and should deliver copies of any available documents that substantiate such abuse.”

After due consideration was given to the remarks and demands of the pertinent religious authorities, the Article assumed the following final form: “All texts contradicting the provisions of this draft law shall be cancelled. However, should the provisions set herein be at odds with those of the Personal Status Law or the jurisdiction of the religious and spiritual courts, the latter shall apply in all cases.”

Opinion of the Legislation and Consultation Committee

The Legislation and Consultation Committee at the Ministry of Justice has reviewed several drafts of this proposal since 2008 and has recommended the following:

• Dispensing with the appointment of a Family Attorney General and assigning instead a deputy director within each public prosecution to receive all complaints related to domestic abuse.
• Training all public prosecution and personal status judges to tackle cases of domestic violence properly without the need to establish a Family Court.
• Giving up the need for forensic examiners who are specialized strictly in domestic violence.

Text of the Draft Law

The draft law includes various provisions, of which we highlight the most important:

The following offenses shall be deemed domestic violence acts:

• Any family member who encourages any female relative into practicing street begging shall be sentenced to three to six months in prison and fined an amount ranging between LBP 500, 000 and LBP 1, 000, 000.
• Any family member who encourages any female relative into engaging in immoral or corrupt behaviors or facilitates her involvement in such behaviors shall be sentenced to no less than three years of hard labor in prison.
• Any family member who earns a living by forcing any female relative into prostitution shall be sentenced to no less than five years of hard labor in prison.
• Any spouse who engages in sexual intercourse with his wife by force through the use of threats and violence shall be sentenced to prison for a duration ranging between six months and two years.
• Any spouse who engages in sexual intercourse with a physically helpless wife or with a wife who consented to the act by fraud or artifice shall be sentenced to three years in prison.
• Any family member who murders a female relative shall be sentenced to hard labor in prison for twenty to twenty five years and shall not benefit from the provisions of Article 562 of the Penal Code, which stipulates that he who catches his wife, mother, relative or sister engaging in adultery or extramarital sex and murders or assaults her or her partner because of sudden strong impulse, has right to a lenient sentence.
• Any family member who murders a female relative under the age of 15 intentionally, then mutilates her dead body shall be sentenced to hard labor for life.
• Any family member who murders a female relative intentionally after subjecting her to physical torture and brutality shall be sentenced to death.
• Any family member who assaults a female relative intentionally shall be subject to double the sanctions stipulated in Article 554 to Article 559 of the Penal Code.
• Any family member who practices moral violence against a female relative, using threats to control her, seize her liberty or force her into marriage shall be sentenced to six to twelve months in prison.
• Crimes not mentioned in this Draft Law shall be subject to the sentences cited in the Penal Code.
• The convicted shall not benefit from the provisions stipulated by Article 674 of the Penal Code.

Article 6

The direct complaint or legal claim shall be filed before the relevant judicial authorities by whoever has the capacity to request compensation and according to the Codes of Criminal Procedure. Domestic violence incidents shall be reported to the specialized public prosecution offices by whoever learns of such incidents and takes the initiative to help the targeted victims.

Article 7

The victim has the choice to file his/her complaint to the Judiciary Police or to bring his/her claim directly before the relevant judicial authority. The territorial jurisdiction includes the following:

• Victim’s permanent or temporary place of residence.
• Defendant’s place of residence.
• Venue where the violence occurred.
• Venue where the arrest took place.

Article 24

The single criminal judge or the Criminal Court shall look into the crimes resulting from domestic violence, provided that all court sessions are held in secret. The Code of Criminal Procedure shall apply before these two authorities and their ruling may be appealed against.

Joint-Parliamentary Committees Give Ok to Domestic Violence Draft-Law

The joint parliamentary committees approved the draft law on July 22, 2013, one year after the ad-hoc committee had completed its examination. The approval came after long and extensive parliamentary discussions that concluded with expanding the draft law to cover all family members, not only women, an amendment greeted with reserve by several women associations.

Other adjustments were also introduced to the draft law including:

• Formation of a special ISF division including male and female members trained to resolve familial disputes and offer social guidance.
• Seeking social service assistants during the investigation.
• Formulating special provisions for the implementation of the draft law.
• Amending certain provisions in connection to adultery.

After a prolonged period in the Cabinet and Parliament, the draft law has finally reached its final stages and only needs to be passed during the plenary session. It remains to be seen whether Lebanon will the first among its Arab neighbors to come up with a modern act to protect women or whether the effort will be thwarted against the intransigence of religious authorities.

The reasons behind the above-mentioned crimes are compiled from local newspapers and The Monthly does not warrant nor vouch for their accuracy. It is noteworthy that most of the cases are still under consideration in court and remain unsubstantiated allegations until the rendering of verdicts.