The Democratic Union Party continues to market civil marriage among residents in Hasaka province, but this type of marriage remains popular only among party supporters while local residents continue to ignore the Party’s demands on this issue.
The municipality subordinate to the Kurdish party in Ras al-Ain said it registered a new civil marriage contract between a young man and woman in the municipal marriage office in the presence of witnesses on Saturday. The municipality explained that it gave them a “shared life document.”
This marriage is considered one of the hundreds of cases recorded by the Kurdish administration over the past five years in the Democratic Union Party (PYD) controlled areas in northern Syria. In addition to introducing civil marriage, the Autonomous Administration decided to ban polygamy negatively affecting the cohesion of dozens of families after women raised complaints against their husbands which resulted in their divorce.
The Administration also issued decisions to abolish dowry on the basis it transforms marriage into a material exchange aimed at owning women and replace the concept with the idea that path parties in the marriage must secure a shared life together. The Administration also regularized civil marriage deeds and banned polygamy. These are three points out of 32 points which created much reservation among people in al-Hasakah given they are interventions into the personal status code which in Syrian law depended on the married couples’ religion and the provisions within their religion.
On this issue, jurists Ziad al-Ahmad told Ammar Johmani that the Autonomous Administration’s decisions are considered invalid because they are not based on a legal or constitutional basis, and this law can only be applied to individual cases. He explained that the decision was taken by a de facto authority that imposed itself using military might and that it is an illegitimate authority which is not entitled to issue laws on the Syrian state territory.
Al-Ahmad, who is also the spokesman for the National Movement of the People of al-Jazira, added that the residents in Autonomous Administration controlled areas belong to tribes that have customs and traditions. He pointed out that even members of the Democratic Union Party are going to the Sharia court in al-Hasakah city to legitimize their marriages because the Kurdish administrative courts do not have a personal and civil status division to issue identity cards, family booklets, or any legally recognized documents.
Commenting on the issue of marriage, Ahmad, a mosque imam with a Shari'a degree from Damascus University, pointed out that civil marriage has received limited support from the people of al-Hasakah province. Only some members of the Democratic Union Party, known locally as Apogees, and those who believe in its ideology have taken to holding civil marriages. He explained that most of the Kurdish and Arab population make sure to have a contract, known as “Quran contract”, conducted by a sheikh regardless of other legal requirements. He continued that they place a higher emphasis on religion in the issue of marriage even above legal issues in the regime courts, and some people do not register their marriage in official directorates for many months or years.
Ahmed, 40, said that marriage contracts drawn up by sheikhs are very important and valued by locals beyond any other marriage contract. He added that the directorates and courts dealing with these matters such as the personal status directorate or Magistrate's Court are currently operating in Autonomous Administration controlled cities.
When the Democratic Union Party took control of cities and towns in northern al-Hasaka in 2014, these forces closed the Magistrates Court in Ras al-Ain which documented marriages, transfer of property or land, and other transactions. They later reopened the court because they were unable to fill the vacuum created by its closure and residents did not want to have to go to al-Hasakah to register such cases especially as the courts in al-Hasakah are under regime control, according to Ahmad.
He explained that the Autonomous Administration allowed the locals in Ras al-Ain to reopen the personal status registry and the court in 2015. During the year the courts were closed all residents went to the provincial center to conduct their transactions.
Speaking to Ammar Johmani, Majd al-Din al-Mardeli said he got married in the Turkish city of Mardin after he left Ras al-Ain following the clashes in 2012 and 2013. He remained for more than two years without legal documents proving marriage, but he was forced to register his marriage after the arrival of his second child in 2016.
Majd al-Din depended on his brother who lives in Ras al-Ain to follow up the issue of registering his marriage and his children’s names after obtaining a family card. He explained that he paid about 200,000 Syrian Pounds between transportation, expenses, fees for mukhtars, fees for process contractors who complete part of the documents, and even fees for state employees. According to Majd al-Din, his brother used to bribe state employees so they would not put obstacles before them registering the marriage and children.
The Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its allies among the Kurdish parties and forces declared the Autonomous Administration in northern Syria in three areas: al-Jazira (al-Hasakah), Kobani (Ain Arab and Northern al-Raqqa) and Afrin in northern Aleppo. They created bodies and councils to fulfil the role of ministries and parliament as well as creating security and military forces subordinate to the Administration.
Civil marriage is defined as a marriage contract between two persons in the presence of two witnesses in an official residence (most often the courthouse), without regard to the religious and sectarian differences between the man and woman getting married. Accordingly, there is no objection to the marriage of a Muslim to a Christian and vice versa. This form of marriage may also bring together two people of the same sect if they believe in secularism
