Legal experts have called for strict controls and standards to be put in place to prove the harm that justifies divorce between spouses.
They confirmed that they had monitored cases that included plots, slander, and fabricating stories to prove that harm had occurred, and then gain the legal rights resulting from that.
The country’s courts have witnessed several lawsuits filed by women requesting divorce due to harm, proving custody of their children, and obligating their husbands to pay expenses, housing, and other things.
They claim that the husband does not provide for them, verbally assaults them, and doubts their actions.
On the other hand, husbands brought their wives to court, demanding that they be divorced for harm, without bearing any financial consequences, marital rights, enjoyment expenses, the rest of the dowry, or maintenance during the waiting period.
They claimed multiple reasons for requesting divorce, such as marital infidelity, failure to obey the husband’s orders, or the wife’s verbal or physical assault on him.
In detail, the Federal Court rejected several lawsuits filed by spouses requesting divorce due to harm, and confirmed that divorce may not be requested except when there is a reason for it, such as bad treatment from the husband.
The Ras Al Khaimah Court also rejected a man’s divorce due to harm, as he was unable to prove his claim, and because there was no serious harm that would make it impossible for the couple to continue living together.
The legal advisor, lawyer Youssef Al-Sharif, said that from the legal point of view, divorce is in the hands of the husband, which is technically called right hand possession, and therefore the principle is that the husband has the right to pronounce the divorce himself without the need to file a lawsuit, except that the husband’s divorce of his wife results in her being entitled to legal rights such as alimony, deferred dowry, compensation, maintenance during the waiting period, and so on.
He added, “The husband often resorts to the judiciary to request a divorce from his wife in order to drop the legal rights due to him, trying to prove the harm he has suffered. This is what the Federal Personal Status Law embodies, which stipulates that each of the spouses may request a divorce due to harm that makes it impossible for them to continue living together in a good manner, and neither of them loses their right to do so unless it is proven that they have reconciled.”
Al-Sharif explained that “Islamic jurisprudence and state law permit the husband to request a divorce on his behalf, if there is imminent harm to him if he issues the divorce himself.”
He believed that this text addresses cases in which wives are quarrelsome, or do not want to continue living with their husbands, and resort to devious means to force their husbands to divorce them without forfeiting any of their rights.
He said: “We acknowledge that such cases are rare, but they do exist in society. The generality of the legal texts requires confronting all cases that may occur so that marital relationships that are marred by bad treatment do not continue, just for the sake of blackmail, and to ensure that we benefit as much as possible from that relationship even if it breaks up.”
He stressed that “the judge must verify that the harm cited by the person seeking divorce has reached a level of seriousness and danger such that it is no longer possible for the marital life to continue. No harm can be used as a pretext to end the relationship.”
Lawyer and legal advisor Ibrahim Al Hosani said that any harmed party has the right to dissolve the contract, whether the husband or the wife, but a man’s request for divorce due to harm is socially strange, because he has the right to divorce verbally without resorting to the judiciary, as the right to divorce is in his hands, and he can divorce whenever he wants.
He pointed out that it is known that women are the ones who resort to the court to request a divorce due to harm, but the man may be harmed by the divorce and does not want to appear as the cause of it, or the collapse of the family, and does not want to bear its consequences, such as deferred dowry and other expenses. Therefore, he also resorts to proving the harm before the court. He pointed out that “some wives assault their husbands by beating, insulting, cursing and cursing them in front of others, and this is considered harm, and has affected his dignity and honor,” adding that “the harm of a woman insulting a man is greater than the harm of a man insulting a woman, because the woman is basically subordinate to him and not the other way around. This does not justify insult and beating, but the harm that befalls a man from a woman has major consequences for the family.”
He added that a man requests a divorce due to harm in cases of marital infidelity, and if it is proven that she is negligent and refuses to give him his legal rights, or to breastfeed his children. If she is negligent in this, the man may request a divorce due to harm, with proof before the court.
He added that the issue of harm cannot be limited to insult and abuse, as a man may hit or insult a woman, but she is capable of destroying all his property because she owns his movable and immovable money in the house, and she may burn or destroy it.
Al Hosani called for the establishment of strict controls to prove the harm that justifies divorce between spouses, so that the allegations are not malicious from both parties and ultimately lead to the collapse of the family.
Lawyer and legal advisor, Mohammed Al-Najjar, believes that the UAE legislator did not differentiate between spouses in requesting separation due to harm and discord, as the Personal Status Law stipulates the right of spouses to request divorce due to harm that makes it impossible for them to continue living together in a good manner. He explained that “the man’s goal is to prove the wife’s disobedience, so that she loses her rights to spousal support, maintenance during waiting period, and enjoyment support, in addition to an appropriate amount of compensation that she pays after it is determined by the court, and it is the husband’s right, in implementation of the text of the Personal Status Law, which states that if the arbitrators are unable to reconcile, and all the harm is from the wife, they decide to separate in return for an appropriate compensation that they estimate, and the wife pays it.”
For its part, the Federal Supreme Court confirmed in the grounds of divorce cases for harm that “each spouse has the right to request a divorce for harm that makes it impossible for them to continue living together in a good manner. Neither of them loses their right to do so unless they prove that they have reconciled. The Family Guidance Committee undertakes to reconcile the spouses. If it fails to do so, the judge offers them reconciliation. If this is not possible and the harm is proven, the divorce is ruled. If the harm is not proven, the case is rejected.”
Last October, the Personal Status Court in Ras Al Khaimah rejected a Gulf man’s divorce from his wife due to harm, because he was unable to prove his claim and because there was no serious harm that would make it impossible for the couple to continue living together.
The man filed a lawsuit in which he stated that his wife does not respect him, verbally assaults him, and insults his family. She also does not obey his orders, always leaves the house without his consent, and puts his daughter’s life at risk by taking her to another emirate despite the spread of the Coronavirus. The husband requested a divorce due to harm, the dropping of his wife’s rights arising from the marriage contract, and the dropping of her custody of her daughter. However, the court rejected his request due to his inability to prove his claim.
He was also unable to waive his wife’s rights arising from the marriage contract, and to waive her custody of her daughter.
She called on the couple to preserve their married life and bring their views closer together.
“Anyone harmed by the marriage has the right to annul the contract…but a man requesting a divorce due to harm is socially strange.”
“Sometimes the husband resorts to the judiciary to request a divorce from his wife in order to waive the legal rights due to him.”
“Islamic jurisprudence and state law permit the husband to request a divorce on his behalf, if there is imminent harm to him if he issues the divorce himself.”