Sharia courts in UK should follow US Example

End of June, different publications in the UK revealed a study, carried out by the Westminster-based think-tank Civitas, showing that at least 85 Sharia tribunals now operate nationwide.

The British press expressed their major concern that the British law is supposedly under attack, threatened by the creeping tide of radical sharia.

Luke W Goodrich, a legal counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty wrote to the Guardian on 6 July suggesting that the UK should follow the US example and relax about the issue.

Before unveiling the study, it was believed only about five Sharia courts were operating in Britain – London, Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham and Nuneaton.

According to the Daily Telegraph, these five Sharia courts are run by the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, a body whose ruling are enforced through the state courts under the 1996 Arbitration Act.

In Februay, 2008, the spread of Sharia law has become increasingly controversial as Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has publicly spoke out that adoption of certain aspect of Sharia law in the UK “seems unavoidable”.

Lord Phillips, the most senior judge in England and Wales who stepped down last October, also supported Sharia law and told the Guardian there is no reason why decisions made on Sharia principles should not be recognised by the national courts.

According to the Guardian, the major concern on the expanded Sharia tribunals arbitration is that dozens of them are regularly giving illegal advice on issues such as marriage and divorce.

Like decisions concerning marriages are not recognised under English law.

Civita told the Guardian there is no clear division between the functions of imams and the Sharia courts.

An imam who conducts a marriage which is not registered and then advices on disputes within that marriage acts in breach of the law and outside the scope of the Sharia court's role.

The Daily Telegraph argued that they are unlikely to treat women as equals and could even be against human rights law.

The UK's highest court said in 2008 that Sharia law was “wholly incompatible” with human rights law, and the House of Lords described Sharia law in Lebanon as “created by and for men in male dominated society”.