Parliament to amend the Passport Law, attempting to eliminate the absolute right of a husband over his spouse to travel outside of the country. However, this attempt failed as the bill did not go through the legislative process.20 In 2017, a draft law that sought to allow women with particular jobs – notably athletes and artists- to travel outside the country without their husband’s consent, provided that they secure the permission of the prosecutor-general, was introduced before the Parliament. 21 H. The Islamic Republic of Iran should amend the Civil Code and further amend the draft Family Protection Law, to prohibit polygamy. The Iranian legal framework does not explicitly prohibit polygamy. However, Iranian law is mostly based on Sharia law, under which polygamy is allowed and men can have up to four permanent wives.22 Additionally, according to Sharia law, men are allowed to enter in temporary marriages (Sigheh). In such circumstances, a man (married or not) can marry a woman (necessarily unmarried) for a limited period of time without having to register the union. There is no limitation as to the number of temporary marriages a man can enter, and the duration of such unions can last up to 99 years.23 While the Civil Code does not explicitly prohibit or permit polygamy, the wording of a number of provisions suggest that polygamy is effectively allowed. For example, Article 900 which deals with the right to inheritance, refers to "spouse" and "spouses". In Article 942, “spouse” is followed by “spouses”. Additionally, while Article 1304 stipulates that "any woman who is free from" obstacles to marriage "may be proposed to", this provision does not exist for men, suggesting that, for men, an existing marriage may not be considered as an obstacle for a new marriage. According to an opinion issued by the "Legal Deputy of the Judiciary", Articles 16 and 17 of the Family Protection Law, which was adopted before the 1979 revolution, are still considered valid.24 According to Article 16 of that pre-revolutionary law, already married men can remarry with the "permission of the court". As a consequence, in effect, the current Iranian legal framework does not prohibit polygamy. 20 The latest status of the plan "Women leave the country without the permission of their husbands", www.tabnak.ir/003GUK Asriran News Agency, ‘Mowlaverdi : Tarh-e- eslaah-e-gozarnameh baraye khourouj-e-zanan az keshvar dar Majles barrasi mishavad [Mowlaverdi: The draft bill on the amendments to the passport law allowing women to leave the country will be discussed in the Parliament], 28 July 2017, https://bit.ly/330XCyC 22 < http://vasael.ir/fa/news/15174/ > 23 < https://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/710888/ > 24 Issued on May 14, 2013: < https://www.ekhtebar.com/?p=4160 >;< https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/462911/ > 21 5