Cuba
Cuban People Ratify New Family Law in Historic Referendum
Cuban youth mobilizing for the success of the referendum on the Family Code, September 17, 2022.
On September 25, a new Family Code was approved in Cuba by a national referendum in which more than six million people participated, representing 74 per cent of eligible voters. The Code, which addresses a wide range of relationships and circumstances that pertain to families and family life, reforming and expanding the family law in force since 1975, received an approval of 66.87 per cent. It was signed into law on September 26 by the President of the National Assembly of People's Power Esteban Lazo and the President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel and is now in force.
While Cuba's 2019 and 2010 Constitutions were both ratified by the
Cuban people through referendums, this is the first time a law has been
submitted to a popular and binding referendum in Cuba. It is also
history-making on a world scale for being the first time a Family Code
has been adopted by a
direct, secret vote of a country's citizens.
The norms contained in the Code are governed by the principles, values and rules contained in Cuba's constitution as well as international treaties and conventions in force in Cuba such as the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child and of Disabled Persons, among others. In the process of crafting the new Code, the actual lived experiences and stories of the Cuban people were taken into account, and the family law of other countries was studied.
Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel has referred to the final version of the new law as "fair, necessary, updated, and modern" in that it accords rights and guarantees to all people and to the diversity of today's families.
The new Code is based on the recognition of the equality of all
people before the law enshrined in Cuba's constitution, entitling
everyone to the same protection in the enjoyment of rights, freedoms
and opportunities, without any discrimination due to any personal
condition or circumstance that
implies a distinction harmful to human dignity. As such, it recognizes
and upholds the right of all people to marry and found a family and to
organize it in the way that their convictions dictate. It does away
with the requirement of a heterosexual union for relationships and
circumstances
protected by law such as marriage, "de facto affective unions,"
adoption or motherhood and fatherhood through the use of assisted
reproduction including surrogacy, which it refers to as "solidarity
childbearing." It also removes any requirement for justifying a divorce
other than the will of a
person to no longer remain linked to their spouse.
Another feature of the new Code is that it provides for a greater balance between the roles, responsibilities, duties and rights of parents, assigning joint responsibility in caring for the children and other family members who may also have need of care.
Speaking after casting his vote in the referendum, President Díaz-Canel said that in his opinion Cuban society had grown in the course of giving rise to the new law, which involved a broad consultation process in which more than 6,480,000 Cubans participated, including legislators, experts in relevant fields, academics and the population in general. The final draft presented to the population in the referendum was the 25th version of the text as a result of different proposals received in the process of its collective construction by the people and the National Assembly of People's Power.
At the same time Díaz-Canel acknowledged that a part of Cuban society still fails to understand some elements of the new Code because, in 62 years of the Revolution, some people and families are still influenced by patriarchal criteria. While the process of constructing the Code respected everyone's right to an opinion, he regretted that for reasons of their personal beliefs, a part of the citizenry still does not understand that the law does not deny the type of family they defend, but protects the rights of people to other forms of love and legally recognized unions. Some religious organizations and sectors of the political opposition campaigned against the new Family Code, calling it incompatible with their values and beliefs. Toxic campaigns on social networks and media with links to counterrevolutionary elements in the U.S. also attempted to incite Cubans to vote No in the Referendum on the basis that supporting the proposed new law meant supporting the Cuban government.
President Díaz-Canel engaging people from different sectors in discussion of the Family Code prior to the referendum, September 20, 2022.
Another important area of the updated Family Code pertains to discrimination and violence within the family. It recognizes and protects the rights of vulnerable or potentially vulnerable members of families, typically children and adolescents, but also those who are victims of violence as well as older adults and people with disabilities. In the latter two cases, a section of the new Family Code is dedicated to their rights to autonomy and independence and the right to choose a place of residence in an accessible environment, and to participation and inclusion in family and social life in the fullest sense, with support that is respectful of their preferences.
A significant conceptual shift was made away from the old notion of parental authority to one of parental responsibility that calls for relations of fraternity, respect and consultation in parents' dealings with their children. It endorses principles such as gender equality and the obligation of parents to provide their children with emotional stability and to contribute to the free development of their personality based on their capacities, aptitudes and interests.
The new law acknowledges that expressions of family violence take different forms. It can be verbal, physical, psychological, moral, sexual, economic or patriarchal and be expressed through negligence and neglect and through action or omission, directly or indirectly. All matters of this nature are subject to urgent legal protection and anyone who considers themself to be a victim or has knowledge of violence being done to others, may request protection on a summary basis before the Municipal Court, regardless of whether there is criminal liability.
The new Family Code has now been published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba. Congratulations to the Cuban people and their leadership who united the people in the course of the deliberations on the new Family Code which enshrines a modern definition of rights. It puts to shame countries such as the United States which is fomenting a deadly civil war over matters pertaining to human rights such as have been enshrined in the Cuban Family Law. The law has been submitted for an informed vote in the true sense of the word. The cultural political life of the people has been enriched tremendously as a result. Through their deeds, Cuba and its people have shown once again what it means to have a democracy which vests decision-making power in the people. Viva Cuba!
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 22 - October 1, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520224.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca