LEGAL STATUS AND CONSEQUENCES OF UNILATERAL DIVORCE: COMPARATIVE STUDIES BETWEEN EGYPT, JORDAN, TUNISIA AND INDONESIA

Unilateral divorce by the husband outside the court requires attention for the protection of affected women and children. This literature study was conducted to find out how the development of traditional family law implementation into modern family law in four countries, namely Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, and Indonesia. This article is classified as literature research with a qualitative approach. The methodology used is normative and comparative legal studies. The results of this study showed that there are differences in laws and regulations in the Islamic family law environment in those countries. Divorce that is imposed by the husband is unilaterally recognized as valid in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, while in Indonesia the wife can appeal or cassation against the divorce. Egypt and Tunisia impose criminal sanctions on husbands who do not meet the obligation to pay their living and home to their ex-wives, while Indonesia and Jordan do not impose any criminal sanctions. Criminal sanctions imposed in Egypt and Tunisia are the payment of a certain number of fines or confinement during a certain time. However, divorce proceedings without reporting to relevant officials in Jordan can be charged with criminal law. Therefore, the best implementation of family law related to unilateral divorce is in Tunisia. The scholarly contribution of this research to family law globally is that it offers the most ideal concept in protecting the often neglected rights of wives and children.