In 2013, 10 civil marriages were conducted on Lebanese soil. Though good news, the facts on the ground do not bode well. A civil marriage conducted inside Lebanon is still treated as a precedent by the Lebanese state, with marriage paperwork being delayed by the Interior Ministry. Is the state stalling to ensure that civil marriage does not become an ordinary procedure?
Suleiman Kaspatian tied the knot with a civil marriage last August. He did not get married abroad as countless other Lebanese do. Armed with two significant victories, he stayed in Lebanon and married in the Chouf district.
The first victory was removing any reference to his sect on his ID card, which enabled him to marry in Lebanon based on Decree 60, issued by the French high commissioner in 1936: "People who do not belong to a particular sect are subject to civil law in personal status issues."