THE TELEGRAPH: Sharia law is and must remain "subservient" to the English courts, Jack Straw has said.
The Justice Secretary told an Islamic conference that no court would ever endorse a sharia ruling that conflicted with English law and that the arguments against introducing a separate Islamic legal system were "overwhelming".
Mr Straw said: "There is nothing whatever in English law that prevents people abiding by Sharia principles if they wish to, provided they do not come into conflict with English law.
"There is no question about that. But English law will always remain supreme, and religious councils subservient to it."
His speech came days after Bridget Prentice, a junior minister in his department, suggested that rulings on divorce and custody of children made by sharia courts could simply be "rubber-stamped" by English courts. Miss Prentice's comments drew sharp criticism from the Conservatives and pressure groups.
Mr Straw said that while the courts could take sharia rulings into account, they must make their own decisions, which could not be disputed externally. >>> By Jon Swaine | October 30, 2008
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