Over the course of the Twentieth century, the Egyptian state enacted personal status codes designed to make marriage a more permanent bond than envisioned by traditional Islamic jurisprudence by curbing men’s right to repudiation. It was also believed that providing women with more marital rights, including wider rights to petition for judicial divorce, would strengthen the marital bond. In 1980, a renewed attention to religion led to the introduction of an article in the constitution which designated the principles of Islamic shari'a the principal source of legislation. Yet, this did not stem the process of legislative reform, most controversial of which was the so-called khul' law from 2000.
This chapter focuses on their enforcement of the personal status codes based on analysis of judicial decisions from the High Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation, Cairo Appeal Court and and family courts in Cairo. The final section of the chapter looks at prospective changes in family law after the 2011 revolution.