Family
Code du statut personnel 2001 applying Maliki jurisprudence
Ordonnance n° 2001-052 codifies personal status on Maliki lines: polygamy is permitted subject to conditions, guardianship rules apply to a bride's consent, and inheritance follows Quranic shares. Marriage age is 18 with judicial exceptions.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Tribunaux de wilaya sitting in personal status apply the Code du statut personnel; qadi-trained judges preside.
- Deadline — Birth registration: within the period set by the civil status law
- Deadline — Talaq and judicial divorce: procedures set by the Code du statut personnel
Governing law
- Ordonnance n° 2001-052 du 19 juillet 2001 portant Code du statut personnel
- Loi n° 2017-025 relative à la santé de la reproduction
- Loi n° 2020-017 relative à la lutte contre la traite des personnes
In practice
The 2001 Code is a codification of Maliki fiqh rather than a civil-law family code, so its provisions on guardianship, dower and inheritance follow classical doctrine. A draft law on violence against women and girls has been repeatedly blocked in parliament on the ground that it conflicts with sharia, which is why criminal protection in this area rests largely on the trafficking and reproductive health statutes instead.