A bill seeking to protect women and challenge the application of sharia law in the UK has been approved by the House of Lords.
Baroness Cox's Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill passed its third reading on Tuesday. It will now be handed over to the House of Commons for consideration. To become law, the bill will need an MP to sponsor it and steer it through the House of Commons.
Baroness Cox's bill, which has received support from Christian Concern, seeks to tackle the challenge of sharia councils, which fail to protect Muslim women adequately from violence and abuse. The bill also challenges the broader issue of the development of a parallel legal system based on sharia law within the UK.
It is estimated that around 30 sharia councils operate in Britain today. The ‘courts’ issue Islamic divorce certificates and advice on aspects of religious law.
A Dutch legal scholar, who was given a high level of access to sharia 'courts' in the UK, spoke of a woman who was told by a sharia ‘court’ judge to live in a polygamous marriage, rather than seek a religious divorce. Another woman was mocked for marrying a verbally and physically abusive man.
Many women are unaware that they have recourse outside of these 'courts', or they come under community pressures to submit to the rulings of sharia councils.
Andrea Williams, Christian Concern’s Chief Executive, said: "We continue to support this bill because we recognise the injustices Muslim women face in our country. We also recognise the danger of allowing Islamic law to operate as a quasi-legal system within the UK. Sharia law is utterly incompatible with the Christian principles upon which our nation was founded, and we cannot allow those principles to be eroded in the name of ‘tolerance’."
Earlier this month it was revealed that a Muslim judge who said that Mike Overd had used the ‘wrong’ Bible verse has become the first judge to be allowed to rule on a sharia tribunal.
District Judge Shamim Ahmed Qureshi, of Bristol Crown Court, has been given permission by the Judicial Office to serve as a 'presiding judge' at the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT), a council that operates in an official capacity and according to sharia principles.
At the time, Andrea Williams has described the Judicial Office’s decision as "playing with fire". She continued:
"The principles of sharia law are incompatible with British law and have been shown to be unfair to women, even in cases of violent abuse.
"To approve a judge to serve on these ‘courts’ is highly concerning and supports the setting up and increasing acceptance of parallel legal systems."
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