How did Tunisian law change the legal effect of divorce by repudiation outside a court?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Under the Tunisian Law of Personal Status (1957), the legal effect of divorce by repudiation (ṭalāq) outside of a court was abolished. Tunisian reformers utilized the principle of ijtihād (independent legal reasoning) to argue that because the Qurʾān mandates the appointment of arbitrators in cases of marital discord, official courts are the appropriate bodies to fulfill this function.1

Consequently, the law explicitly declares that "Divorce outside a court of law is without legal effect." While the court must dissolve the marriage if a husband persists in his desire to repudiate his wife, the law grants the court unlimited power to award the wife compensation for any damages sustained due to the divorce.1