REFORM OF PERSONAL STATUS LAWS IN NORTH-AFRICA - A PROBLEM OF ISLAMICOR MEDITERRANEAN LAWS

There is a tendency in the West to exaggerate the gap between the evol ution of Western family laws and the evolution of family laws in Musli m countries. By comparing the changes in the legal definitions of marr iage and the relationship of the spouses in French law, the secular la ws of Turkey, and the laws of North African countries, this article re veals similar patterns in legal evolution on the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean.