Personal Status Law

Yemen’s Personal Status Law is the governing legal framework regulating Yemeni citizens’ personal affairs (e.g., marital/divorce laws). The law was adopted in 1992, and subsequent amendments were adopted in following years between 1993-1999. This law addresses several overarching areas relevant to the ‘children and armed conflict’ agenda, especially since the law addresses rights preservation for children. The law includes provisions related to custody and guardianship that are relevant to instances of displacement or separation.

The law is composed of over 300 articles divided across 6 major chapters that relate to the following themes:

1- Marriage and divorce laws (Chapter 1 & 2): Details all governing aspects of marriage contracts, divorce and annulments, and their related procedures.

2- Custody and kinship (Chapter 3): Describes paternity, kinship, and regulation related to children’s/minors’ custody and spouses rights/obligations.

3- Wills, inheritance, and donation/gifts (Chapters 4, 5, 6): Detail the regulatory frameworks governing wills and inheritance and gifts/charitable donations in relation to and accordance with the Islamic laws.

Regarding implementation and consistently with internationally accepted standards, one relevant area is the minimum age of marriage, which Article 15 (Chapter 1) sets at 15 years old, below the internationally accepted age of 18. Additionally, whereas the law’s provisions aim to protect civilians’ rights, those rights have been challenging to actualize in Yemen’s conflict setting due to a multitude of reasons, including deteriorated implementation structures, such as the judicial system, a cornerstone in implementing this law; conflicting customs and/or norms from different domestic stakeholders; and conflict-driven displacement, which has resulted in a large group of individuals losing their documentation, which is needed to establish their rights during processes of inheritance or marriage.