Women’s Privacy in British Cyprus: Applying Mecelle by English Justices in the Supreme Court of Cyprus

Abstract We examine how English justices in the Supreme Court of British Cyprus applied and interpreted gender-coded articles (1202–1207, 1317) from the Mecelle , an Islamic-Ottoman civil law. These articles focus on spatial considerations and privacy protections for women within residential environments, including directives on the construction of windows and partitions to prevent overlooking women’s quarters, obligations regarding garden views versus residential views, and regulations prohibiting the climbing of fruit trees if they potentially overlook women’s quarters. We analyse the cases decided by the Supreme Court of Cyprus on appeal, related to the overlooking of places or quarters used by women ( maqarr al-niswān ), such as the kitchen, the mouth of the well, and the yard of a house. In this analysis, we aim to reveal how the English justices handled these cases using the existing gender-coded law, and to what extent they interpreted the law. Based on these judicial decisions, we illustrate the intersection of Islamic urban codes with British legal administration. Furthermore, we highlight subtleties in the interpretation of legislation designed to safeguard women’s privacy. Our aim is to contribute to the field of legal historiography by examining how colonial judicial systems navigated local customs and legal principles in British Cyprus during the Protectorate era (1878–1914).