Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959: what applies today
A common question in Baghdad is whether the 1959 law is still the one that governs family life. The short answer is yes: Law No. 188 of 1959 remains in place, but what is applied today is its text after a long series of amendments. On this page the office of lawyer Ali Barakat explains how to read the text in force, where the newest additions sit, and how they connect to the other pages of the personal status area.
Where the correct text comes from
The law first appeared in the Official Gazette (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya), issue 280, on 30/12/1959. The Iraqi Legislation Database, run by the Ministry of State for Legislative Affairs, publishes a consolidated version: amendments are merged into the articles they changed, and footnotes name the amending law for each article. An old printed copy, or a copy pasted on a general website, may therefore show a paragraph that was repealed or replaced long ago. The working rule is simple: read the article in the consolidated text, then check the footnote to see which law changed it and when that change took effect.
Article 1: the order of sources
Article 1 makes the statutory provisions of the law govern every matter they address, by their wording or by their sense. Where no applicable provision exists, the court rules according to the principles of Islamic Sharia most suited to the provisions of the law. In doing so, courts are guided by rulings settled by the judiciary and by Islamic jurisprudence in Iraq and in other Islamic countries whose laws are close to Iraqi law. In a case this order matters: the search begins with the written text, and the court moves beyond it only when the text is silent.
Article 2: who the law applies to
Paragraph 1 of article 2 provides that the law applies to Iraqis, except those excluded by a special law. Paragraph 2 refers conflicts of laws in space to articles 19 to 24 of the Civil Code, for example where one spouse is a foreign national or the marriage was concluded outside Iraq.
Law No. 1 of 2025 then added paragraph 3 to article 2. In summary, an Iraqi Muslim man and an Iraqi Muslim woman may, when concluding their marriage contract and registering it at the Personal Status Court, choose to have the rulings of the Shia Jaafari school applied to them and to their minor children in personal status matters. The paragraph adds a separate route for couples whose contracts were registered before the amendment, and rules for settling disagreement between the parties about the choice.
The Jaafari code after ratification
The amendment required a code of Sharia rulings under the Jaafari school to be prepared and submitted to the Council of Representatives. Decision No. 10 of 2025 then ratified the "Code of Sharia Rulings on Personal Status Matters under the Shia Jaafari School" and treated it as an annex to Law No. 1 of 2025. The decision and the code were published in the Official Gazette, issue 4843, on 6/10/2025, and the decision states that both take effect from publication.
The code is arranged in five parts: marriage, talaq, wills, inheritance, and final provisions. It does not replace Law No. 188 for everyone. It applies to those covered by the choice in article 2, in the way that article sets out. So the first question in any family file today is: which rules apply to this couple? The provisions of Law No. 188, or the code by virtue of a registered choice?
The parts of the law and the pages of this area
Law No. 188 runs through successive parts: marriage, engagement and registration of the contract; prohibited marriages; marital rights, including dower and maintenance; dissolution of marriage by talaq, judicial separation and khul; the waiting period; birth, filiation, nursing and custody; maintenance of descendants and ascendants; wills; and inheritance. Each part has a detailed page in this area, including judicial separation, divorce registration, the maintenance claim and custody and visitation.
Kurdistan Region Law No. 15 of 2008
A footnote in the consolidated text records that the Kurdistan Region issued Law No. 15 of 2008 amending the application of the Personal Status Law in the Region. It suspended certain paragraphs and put other rules in their place, including rules on taking more than one wife. Reading the law can therefore differ between the courts of Baghdad and the courts of the Region, and each case is measured against the text in force where it is heard.
Legal basis and sources
- Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959 (Official Gazette, issue 280 of 30/12/1959)
- Law No. 1 of 2025 amending the Personal Status Law (Official Gazette, issue 4814 of 17/2/2025)
- Decision No. 10 of 2025 ratifying the Code of Sharia Rulings on Personal Status Matters under the Shia Jaafari school (Official Gazette, issue 4843 of 6/10/2025)
Frequently asked questions
Did Law No. 1 of 2025 repeal the 1959 law?
No. The amendment added a paragraph to article 2. Law No. 188 remains in force and continues to apply to everyone not covered by the choice it describes.
When did the Jaafari code take effect?
Decision No. 10 of 2025 provides that the decision and the code take effect from their publication in the Official Gazette. They were published in issue 4843 on 6/10/2025.
What does the court do when there is no provision?
Under article 1, it rules by the principles of Islamic Sharia most suited to the provisions of the law, guided by settled judicial and juristic practice.
Related topics and articles
- 01Judicial separation and its grounds before the Personal Status CourtGrounds for judicial separation under articles 40 to 45 of Iraq's Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959: harm, discord and arbitration, wife's grounds, and effect.
- 02Registering a divorce in court, and revocable versus irrevocable talaqRegistering talaq at the Personal Status Court under article 39 of Iraq's Law No. 188 of 1959, when talaq does not take effect, proxies, and article 38 types.
- 03The maintenance claim: wife and children, increase and lossThe maintenance claim before the Personal Status Court under articles 23 to 33 and 58 to 63 of Iraq's Law No. 188 of 1959: scope, interim award, increase, loss.
- 04Custody and visitation: custody age and when custody endsCustody and visitation under article 57 of Iraq's Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959: the mother's priority, custodian conditions, ages ten and fifteen, transfer.
- 05Prompt and deferred dower (mahr)Dower rules in articles 19 to 22 of Iraq's Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959: named and proper dower, prompt and deferred parts, when the deferred part falls due.