Milestone·Modern
Tunisia Issues Its Personal Status Code
- Date
- 13 August 1956 CE1376 AH70 years ago
- Place
- Tunis, Tunisia
- People
- Habib Bourguiba
Tunisia promulgated its Code of Personal Status on 13 August 1956. The code took effect on 1 January 1957. It banned polygamy, set a minimum age for marriage and required divorce to go through the courts. The drafters based several reforms on ijtihad, independent legal reasoning. Habib Bourguiba, then prime minister, led the reform.
Why it matters
The code remains the basis of Tunisian family law, and its ban on polygamy is still in force.