Sonia Ibrahim Atiyah
Who Is She
Personal information
Attorney at Law
Sonia Ibrahim Atiyah
What I have done for Lebanon
At the age of eleven I campaigned for equality between boys and girls in school.
At age fifteen I published my first article in Al-Sayyad defending women’s rights and the necessity of women sharing in government.
My writings, lectures and work with NGOs aimed at ensuring protection for the family and promoting peace, justice and better representation in Parliament.
To achieve these aims I presented proposals for new legislation, was active in the National Bloc Party and founded “The Social Peace Movement” whose aim is to balance between a free economic system preserving the right of ownership and capital and the just compensation of workers.
Contact information / Private
Phone:
034 423 1 961 & 342 398 1 961
Fax:
380 398 1 961
961 3 767611
Personal email address 2:
Contact information / Work
Zaghloul Atiyah & Sonia Ibrahim Law Firm
Postbox:
16- 6559
Beirut – Achrafieh 1100 2130
Beirut
Lebanon
Phone:
422 301 1 961 & 034 423 1 961
Fax:
380 398 1 961
Mobile:
611 767 3 961
Education
Education:
- Master's degree, law, 1963, Lebanese University, Lebanon.
- Undergraduate studies (Sophomore), Economics, 1956, Beirut University College (currenly the Lebanese American University), Lebanon.
- High School Diploma, 1953, Evangelical High School of Zahleh, Lebanon.
Areas of expertise
Expertise:
- Commercial Law
- Civil Law
- Human Rights
- Personal Status Laws
- Women's Rights
Languages:
- Arabic
- English
- French
Work history
Jobs:
- Attorney at Law, 1965 - present, Zaghloul Atiyah & Sonia Ibrahim Law Firm.
Honorary office and memberships
- Elected member in the Council of the Beirut Bar Association (three terms): 1987, 1991, 2003.
- Member of Human Rights and Civil Liberties Committee Beirut Bar Association 1997-1999
- Member of the Committee of Professional Ethics of the Beirut Bar Association, 1999 - 2009.
- Member of the Disciplinary Judicial Council of the Beirut Bar Association, 2003 - 2009.
- Vice President of the Lebanese Council of Women, 1991 - 1995, and its former legal consultant.
- Ex Member of Board of Directors – Non-governmental Committee for women Affairs.
- Member of the Lebanese National Block Party, 1974 - present; and former member of the council and executive committee of the party (1991 - 2004). Until the time I resigned.
- Member of the National Coalition for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 1999 - present.
- Member of Legislation Committee – Beirut Bar Association 2014.
Productions
Publications highlights:
- Atiyah, S. (2005). Proposed procedures to fight discrimination against women in marriage and inheritance. Al-Raida, XXIII , 111-112, 27-30.
Major achievements:
- Author of several articles and proposals on legal, economical , political and social issues, published in Lebanese magazines and newspapers.
- Collaborated with other lawyers and judges members of the Advisory Board of the League of Lebanese Women's Rights which proposed amendments to provisions that are inconsistent with stipulations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), March 1999.
- A proposal for enacting a new law on nationality providing for equality between men and women.
- Published a book relating briefly my life under the title “ My Course in the Sanctuary of Justice”, 2015.
- Founder and President of an NGO under the name “Social Peace Movement “ 2016 Authorization 24104 .
- Article titled “ Taxes and Social Peace” (An-Nahar daily , 15 September 2017) proposing major amendments in the system of taxation .
- Collaborated with other lawyers from the Beirut Bar Association to prepare Al-Wathiqa al-loubnaniya [the Lebanon document] to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, 1998.
- Prepared, with a group of lawyers, a proposal for civil legislation in matters of personal Status.
- Proposed to the Lebanese Cabinet, Members of Parliament, and Minister of Justice, five draft new laws that lead to the empowerment of women, with supporting arguments in 1998, 2004, and 2008.
- Author of several papers presented at major conferences and events focusing on issues such as discrimination against women in laws, customs and practice (1983); amendments in laws that discriminate against women; and professional conduct (ethics) (1999).
- Preparation and submittal of a study on the state of families in Lebanon upon the request of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Prelates, 1984 published in a book sent to the Vatican and translated into 3 languages.
- Author of many articles and lectures presented at conferences focusing on Political , Social and Economical subjects.
- Open letter addressed to the Prime Minister Saad AL Hariri outlining the frame of work of the government, published in “Aljoumhouria” 30/07/2018.
- Proposed a progressive draft electoral law with supporting arguments, to the Lebanese Cabinet and Members of Parliament, 1994.
- Author of a comparative study of the personal status laws of the different religious sects and statute of the family in Lebanon, 1982.
Awards and Distinctions
Distinctions:
- Honorary trophy (Beirut Bar Association), 2008.
- Honorary trophy (Federation of Arab Lawyers), 2008.
- Letter of recognition from the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Prelates- May 1982.
Awards:
- Trophy from the Antelias Cultural Movement , 2015.
- Certificate of recognition (Federation of Arab Lawyers), 1993.
