Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the Arab Union

The Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the Arab Union (Arabic: التعديل السابع لدستور اتِّحاد الجمهوريات العربية at-ta‘dīl as-sābi‘ li-dustūr ittiḥād al-jumhūriyāt al-‘arabīyah) grants formal recognition and limited rights under civil law to confessional communities in the Arab Union. Namely, it recognises by name 33 distinct confessional communities which represented (at the time the amendment was ratified) virtually all citizens of the Arab Union not formally identifying as irreligious, and grants members of each confessional community the right to settle certain non-criminal legal matters outside the secular judiciary. Drafted by the Constitutional Council and submitted to the Supreme Court of the Arab Union on 17 December 2004, it was signed into law by President Bashar al-Assad on 10 January 2005, formalising Arab law as a legally pluralist system while maintaining a strong foundation in common law.