Modern Forms of desertion and Their Impact on the Dissolution of Marriage A Comparative Analytical Study

Abstract

This research examines the emerging forms of abandonment between spouses. The concept of abandonment has changed; it no longer refers solely to the traditional abandonment stipulated in the Iraqi Personal Status Law, which involves a husband leaving his wife or a wife leaving the marital home. Abandonment has become emotional and psychological, not just physical and material. This is due to the misuse of digital media such as social networking sites and video games, and the constant preoccupation with virtual relationships on these sites and chat platforms, at the expense of marital life. What is the legal classification of these cases? Does the Iraqi Personal Status Law's provisions for judicial separation accommodate these emerging forms of abandonment? The research problem lies in the extent to which the Iraqi Personal Status Law legally regulates these new forms of abandonment. There is a legislative deficiency regarding traditional physical abandonment. Does the law, in its provisions addressing cases such as marital discord and separation due to absence or abandonment, accommodate these newly emerging reasons for the dissolution of the marriage contract?

What is the role of the judiciary in addressing this legislative gap? Is it appropriate to reconcile physical abandonment with abandonment resulting from emotional separation due to the misuse of digital media?

It goes without saying that these modern forms of abandonment affect family stability and lead to the dissolution of marriage. This necessitates a study of these cases and an examination of the legal framework and its impact on the dissolution of the marriage contract. We will adopt a comparative analytical approach by examining and analyzing the legal texts related to our study in the Iraqi Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959, as amended in the Kurdistan Region by Law No. 15 of 2008, which amended the application of the Iraqi Personal Status Law. We will then compare these texts with the principles of Islamic Sharia and the opinions of Islamic jurists on this matter.