Introduction:

In its concluding observations on the Libyan report on Articles 1 to 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) adopted in 1997, the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights noted that Libya had advanced certain arguments against the enjoyment by women of certain family and civil rights on the basis of Islamic law. Its response was to call for Libya to end all aspects of discrimination against women.

Libyan Family Law represents the best example of legal inequality. The notion of sex bias against women is articulated in one main controversial aspect. While a woman has the right to obtain divorce, this right is not as wide in scope as that of a man. Restrictions imposed on this right are grounded in cultural practices dating back centuries. As cultural restrictions, their existence raises the question of the validity of the right to culture to justify them.

To this end, the paper is divided into two main parts taking the following form: It will first present the restrictions that Family Law imposes on the exercise of the right to dissolve marriage for both men and women, it shall consider their grounds. The second part examines the considerations of those restrictions and studies them in order to conclude if they suffice to make the restrictions compatible with the Covenants’ standards.