The Women & # 39; s Legal Center (WLC) welcomed the judgment of the Supreme Court of Western Cape, stating that the state was obliged to introduce legislation to recognize Muslim marriages as valid.
"This judgment, and the order made, is of great importance to women, present and future, who have and will choose to enter into an Islamic marriage," the non-profit law center stated in a statement.
Judges Siraj Desai, Gayaat Salie-Hlophe and Nolwazi Boqwana have pronounced the verdict on Friday.
The court stated that the president and the cabinet had not fulfilled their constitutional obligations and that such behavior was invalid.
The application for recognition of Islamic marriages was filed by the Legal Center for Women, which said it was aimed at providing legal protection to Muslim women and their children in divorce.
READ: State must introduce legislation to recognize Muslim marriages as valid court rules
The court stated that if legislation is not adopted within the next two years (24 months), a union that is valid as marriage in terms of Sharia has been concluded and that has existed at the time the order came into force, can be dissolved in accordance with the divorce law and all provisions of that law would apply.
"The court referred to a number of judgments of the Constitutional Court by confirming that" women still occupy a vulnerable position in our society with respect to family structures ", and accepted the comparison made by the WLC between the recognition and protection given to women in Islamic marriages and the recognition and protection of partners in civil or usual marriages, "said the WLC.
The law center added that it hoped to see the fruits of the verdict in the coming months and that the state would introduce legislation without delay.
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