The regulations imposed by the Family Code were in stark contrast to the role that women had during the struggle for liberation that Algeria faced.
These rights slowly started to diminish as in 1980, a ministerial order prohibiting women from travelling after a certain distance unaccompanied by a male relative was passed.
The introduction of a Family Code allowed for restrictions that were contradictory to the role of women during the Algerian war for independence (1954–1962) to be present.
In 1996, Algeria ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and stated that they would aim to counter “discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations […],” [2] but in the condition that the convention followed the regulations in the pre-existing Family Code: “The Government of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria declares that the provisions of article 16 concerning equal rights for men and women in all matters relating to marriage, both during marriage and at its dissolution, should not contradict the provisions of the Algerian Family Code.”.
Its critics particularly focus on its implications for women (who have less right to divorce than men, and who receive smaller shares of inheritance) and sometimes for apostates (who are disinherited, and whose marriages may be nullified.)
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared that the Family Code must be revised [4] in the spirit of universal human rights and Islamic law.
Lachhab of the Islamist El Islah party declared that "We oppose these amendments which are contrary to Sharia, and thus to article 2 of the Constitution," whereas Nouria Hafsi of the pro-government RND declared "These timid amendments put forward a modern reading of the Sharia; the rights of women will finally be recognized by law.
Article 56 of the Code grants custody of the children to the father if the mother remarries, a section that failed to be removed in the 2005 revision and does not apply to the same situation for the male counterpart.
Keeping the remarriage clause would unable once more the father to gain full custody, taking into account that voluntarily unmarried women in Algeria are seen as “immoral” and functioning in society without a husband is extremely inconvenient considering the astounding amount of male-oriented bureaucracy and systemic discrimination.