A working draft of the new constitution being put together for Iraq reveals a much greater role for Islamic law than the Interim Constitution, according to a report today in the New York Times. The new constitution guarantees equal rights for women as long as those rights do not "violate Shariah," or Koranic law. It would also require court cases dealing with marriage, divorce and inheritance to be judged according to the law practiced by the family's sect or religion. This would repeal a liberal personal status law enacted in Iraq in 1959. The new provision would mean that Shiite women, regardless of age, would need permission of their families to marry, and might be subject to divorce at the will or their husbands.
However the fate of the new constitution is in some doubt as two Sunni members of the drafting committee were assassinated Tuesday afternoon, according to the New York Times.
