JEDDAH: The Ministry of Justice has nullified a court order making it obligatory on wives to return to their husbands, the local Arabic daily Al-Watan reported Friday. The ministry, however, said police can use force to enter homes to implement court rulings on child custody.
The newspaper said the new rules were contained in the blueprint of a chart to implement court rules which the ministry has prepared.
"Article 75 of the chart canceled the use of force to bring back wives to the homes of their husbands while Article 74 permitted the use of force to implement rules concerning the custody of children and separation," it said.
The legal adviser to the Human Rights Commission, Omar Al-Khouli, welcomed the ministry’s new directive and said using force to oblige estranged wives to go back to the conjugal home might result in brutal crimes.
"Laws in many countries of the world do not account for any article that would legalize the use of force to bring back an estranged wife to her husband," he recalled. "This is simply against human rights," he added.
Al-Khouli did not object to the use of force to implement court rulings concerning custody of children or to separate husband and wife for reasons of being close relatives whose marriage is forbidden by Shariah or being siblings on the ground of their having been breast-fed by the same woman.
Under the new changes, Article 75 will read: The verdict asking the wife to return to the married home should not be implemented by force. Article 74 will read: The force of law may be used to execute court rulings concerning custody of children or separating husband and wife.
Wife can’t be forcibly returned to husband
