ABSTRACT
Legal systems with a plurality of personal statuses are deeply rooted in history. Using an historical method and focusing on texts and on what we could learn from past practices, this chapter is divided into three parts. “What Are the Origins of the Plurality of Personal Statuses?” renews the approach of the origins of the notion of “personal status law” in the colonial context. After recalling the decisive step of the Egyptian codes, “The Dissemination of the System of Plurality of Personal Status” studies the extension of this notion outside Egypt after World War I. “From the Interwar Period to Decolonization” analyses the role played by the situation in the territories of the Middle East under mandates of the League of Nations during the interwar period, then the keeping of a plurality of personal statuses in many decolonized countries.
