Accurate data on Emirati divorce rates difficult to obtain, courts say

Advocate Ibrahim Al Tamimi at Abu Dhabi Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi. Ravindranath K / The National

ABU DHABI // Many Emiratis prefer to settle divorce disputes through traditions and Sharia rather than official channels, making it difficult for authorities to collate accurate data.

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said statistics about divorces passing through the courts could be difficult to measure.

Legal advocates use the example that, according to Sharia, a man can divorce his wife by pronouncing “I divorce you” three times, and reconcile without the knowledge of the court.

A department report showed that there were 1,813 registered divorce cases last year, compared with 1,872 in 2014. But it also highlighted statistical problems.

“It is challenging to get statistics in cases where a husband has reinstated his wife without the knowledge of the court,” said the report.

The couple may have reconciled but, according to the statistics, it is still counted as a divorce.

“Many couples, and women in particular, do not go to court to declare the divorce if her husband reinstates her before the waiting period has ended,” said lawyer Ibrahim Al Tamimi.

Sharia dictates that there should be a waiting period of a month for each time a husband says “I divorce you”.

If a husband says it three times and the couple have not reconciled before the end of the waiting period, the divorce is considered final.

But if the wife goes to the court during the reconciliation period and a divorce is be granted to her, it is also final.

He urged women to declare the divorce or the reconciliation at the department’s Family Guidance Division so that the official records could be updated.

This is not required by Sharia but Mr Al Tamimi stressed it was UAE law.

He said a large number of women had reconciled with their husbands without informing the authorities, then later became pregnant, which could cause bureaucratic problems.

“We have had cases of men claiming that the children are not theirs and others where the husband dies after getting back to his wife and, since there is no witness and proof of this, she loses all her rights to inherit from him,” Mr Al Tamimi said.

“I stress on women that if your husband divorces you and then you go back to him, then you must go to court and declare that your husband has divorced you and that you have agreed to return to him.”

The court will not accept any divorce, custody cases or declarations of reconciliation unless a file is first opened at the Family Guidance Division.