A study by the think-tank Civitas concluded that there are at least 85 Islamic sharia courts operating in Britain. The number is almost 20 times as many as previously believed.
The Civitas’ investigations indicated that a considerably large number of sharia courts — 85 at least — are operating, mainly out of mosques dotted around the country. The think-tank found that scores of these unofficial tribunals and councils regularly apply Islamic law to resolve domestic, marital and business disputes, many operating in mosques.
The study says:
There are, to begin with, 13 tribunals operating within a network administered by the Islamic Sharia Council (ISC) based in Leyton. (This network also has two tribunals working abroad.) Second, there are three non‐ISC courts run by the Association of Muslim Lawyers (AML). Thirdly, there are three further councils belonging neither to the ISC nor the AML. Finally, there are the dozens of informal tribunals run out of mosques or online (like the Darul Iftaa in Leicester). A few mosques also offer an online fatwa service or links to online fatwa sites. Some of these sites are also accessible from a number of Muslim schools.
That many of these tribunals function in an unofficial capacity and do not liaise with the civil authorities arouses concern as to the legality of their rulings. (p.69)
(To see the paper in full please click here)
The spread of sharia law has become increasingly controversial since its role was backed last year by Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and Lord Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice who stepped down in October 2008. Dr Williams said the adoption of aspects of Muslim law in Britain, such as in divorce proceedings, 'seems inevitable' and Lord Phillips attracted controversy by saying that there was ‘no reason why’ sharia principles could not form the basis of mediation in disputes.
Lord Phillips said:
‘There is no reason why principles of sharia law, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution.’
However, as the barrister Neil Addison explains in his foreword to the study, those who argue that sharia rulings should be incorporated into the British legal system often confuse mediation with arbitration.
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Mediation leads to an agreement rather than a judgement. It does not rely upon the application of legal rules but aims to find common ground between parties. A mediator cannot impose a mediation decision.
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Arbitration is a trial before a judge with the power to enforce a ruling through the civil courts.
At question time in the House of Lords last month, Lord Tebbit, the former Conservative chairman, compared Sharia law with the system of arbitration run by the Kray brothers in London's East End.
(See the Daily Telegraph report)
Some decisions of Islamic tribunals – sharia rulings or fatwas – are already considered legally binding and could theoretically be enforced in civil courts in England and Wales. Other officially recognised bodies can agree to grant Muslim ‘divorces’ as part of a parallel system of religious law in Britain. The existence of a network of five court-like sharia bodies in London, Bradford, Birmingham, Coventry and Manchester, expanding to other cities under the umbrella of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) has already been widely reported.
The existence of these ‘courts’ is controversial, and some rulings recorded on fatwa sites clearly conflict with British law. For instance, a Muslim woman may not marry a non-Muslim man unless he converts, and if she does, her children should be taken away from her; a wife should normally obey a man's summons to have sex; and a divorced wife has no property rights.
Sharia courts claim authority over the private lives of individuals in a way that is contrary to the British tradition where, as Dr David Green, director of Civitas, points out in his introduction, ‘in our legal system no punishments can be applied to individuals who fail to live up to religious requirements’. (p.4)
'This whole business is creeping up on us without anyone really noticing,' Dr Green said.
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