Sheikh Dr. Hassan Al-Joujou, President of the Supreme Council of Sharia Judiciary in Gaza, affirmed today, during a Zoom meeting organized by The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP), his support for the demands outlined in the legal memorandum submitted by the Center to him. The memorandum addresses the importance of raising the age of custody for a divorced mother’s children to 15 years for both genders, with the possibility for a judge to extend custody until the age of 18, similar to Article (173) of the Jordanian law. Article (173) stipulates “the continuation of the mother’s custody until the child reaches fifteen years of age, and for someone other than the mother, until the child reaches ten years. The child is given the right to choose, after reaching the specified age, to remain in the care of the custodial mother until reaching adulthood.”
However, Sheikh Al-Joujou noted the necessity for this legal amendment to be issued by the Legislative Council. Therefore, he stressed the importance of working to exert pressure to approve the required amendments regarding raising the age of custody, considering that rulings must change with changing times and that legal texts must be dealt with in a new spirit.
For her part, Ms. Zeinab Al-Ghunaimi, Director of CWLRCP, welcomed Dr. Hassan Al-Joujou’s presentation, calling on all attendees from women’s and human rights organizations to submit proposals regarding the issues that will be raised in the upcoming meeting next Thursday. Sheikh Al-Joujou will attend this meeting to discuss a number of issues related to (the child’s maintenance, visitation, housing, and visits), in order to study the possibility of agreeing on improving the conditions for the best interest of the child. She emphasized that joint work will be carried out with the Sharia Judiciary Court in this regard.
It is worth noting that these meetings are part of the campaign implemented by the Center entitled (Yes, my mother is divorced, and I want to remain in her care until the age of 18).
