THE SUNDAY TIMES: Earlier this year I had to warn people about the various siren voices advocating the recognition of Islamic Sharia in the public law of this country.
It seems now that this was no theoretical advocacy, and that Sharia courts are not only operating here but claim to have the sanction of the County and High Courts in the enforcement of their decisions.
As no one, to my knowledge, has denied this claim, we must assume it is true.
The basis on which these courts operate seems to be a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996 which makes binding the decision of an arbitration tribunal if both parties agree to submit their dispute to it.
It is worth asking immediately whether there is any supervision of any such tribunals, any training for those who sit on them, and any limits to their powers. If not, why is there not and will there be?
In the case of Sharia courts, we must ask whether each party is, indeed, submitting the dispute for resolution voluntarily.
This is particularly the case where women are concerned.
Both in terms of submission to a tribunal and in accepting its decisions, are women genuinely free, or is it possible that there are elements of coercion?
As to the relationship of these tribunals to public law, it should be clear, surely, that no matter what we may have agreed to do in the past, every citizen has the right to have recourse to the courts to secure their fundamental freedoms and rights. It is then for these courts to decide how such freedoms and rights are to be upheld.
It is most important for personal liberty and social order that this duty is not negotiated away in the cause of misplaced concern for community relations or communal harmony.
We must also be clear that the courts, in this country, cannot uphold what is contrary to public law. That is to say, decisions of any quasi-legal bodies must accord with the law of the land and remedy for any decisions not in such accordance must lie in the courts.
It is of some concern, therefore, that decisions are being made in the so-called Sharia courts which appear to be contrary to public law. Sharia Law Challenges British Justice >>> By Michael Nazir-Ali | September 21, 2008
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