Syrian legal sources clarified that the judicial system provides specific mechanisms for dealing with cases of missing persons, including appointing a judicial agent to manage their assets and rights, and determining their legal status through proof of death after the expiration of specified time periods.
In the same context, the Sharia judge in Idlib, Mamoud Haj Estifi, explained that the Personal Status Law addressed the conditions of the missing and absent person in Articles 202 to 206, noting that a missing person is one whose life or death is unknown, or whose life is confirmed but whose location is unknown, whereas an absent person is considered in the ruling of a missing person if force majeure circumstances prevent him from returning or managing his affairs for a period exceeding one year.
For his part, the Syndic of Lawyers in Syria, Mohammad Ali Al-Taweel, clarified that the process of establishing the status of a missing person begins by submitting a request to the competent Sharia court accompanied by fixed documents, noting that the appointment of a judicial agent is made upon request from the relatives of the missing person, and is subject in its conditions and powers to the provisions of the guardian, where he takes over the management and preservation of assets and represents him in lawsuits.
Al-Taweel added that the judicial decision appointing the agent constitutes an official document before official authorities, while the wife can file a lawsuit for separation due to absence or obtain a judicial permit to manage her children's affairs, with the possibility of securing necessary family expenses from the missing person's accounts or salaries.
The Sharia judge pointed out that Article 205 stipulates the end of missing status upon the missing person reaching the age of eighty, while the death of the missing person due to military operations is ruled after four years from the date of disappearance, so that he is considered dead from the day following the expiration of this period in cases where destruction is predominant.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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