Egypt: Court rules woman should take same share in inheritance as her brothers
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A court in Egypt has ruled a woman should take an equal share in an inheritance with her brothers in a landmark case, The Times reports.
Lawyer Huda Nasrallah, 40, brought the case to the court in Helwan, south of Cairo, with her brothers’ support.
The court ruled that as the family belonged to the country’s Coptic Christian minority, they were not bound by the rule that women inherit only half the share of their brothers, an Islamic practice.
Azza Soliman, a prominent rights activist in Egypt, said the law should now be changed for everyone.
“The Egyptian state continues to implement old-fashioned religious interpretations that do not treat women as fully fledged citizens,” she said.
A previous ruling had refused Ms Nasrallah’s request for an equal share in the patrimony. However, she relied on the most recent Egyptian constitution.
Ms Nasrallah, a lawyer with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said: “The third article in 2014 constitution was a step forward but we needed to translate it into practice and this is what I fought for.”
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