The use of Sharia courts – those driven by Islamic law - in Great Britain is far more widespread than previously believed, and it raises troubling questions about human rights and equal protection under the law, according to a new study by Civitas, an independent British think-tank.
Five Sharia courts – in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford, and Nuneaton -- are generally acknowledged to exist in the country today. But Civitas researchers found that there are another 85 such courts operating largely out of mosques. The study concludes that such courts or tribunals are issuing rulings that breach basic principles of British law and calls for removal of their formal legal recognition under Arbitration Act 1996 (c. 23), one of the nation's most important legal statutes.
"The reality is that for many Muslims, Sharia courts are part of an institutionalised atmosphere of intimidation backed by the ultimate sanction of a death threat," Civitas Director David Green writes in an introduction to the report. "It cannot be accepted that Sharia councils are nothing more than independent arbitrators guided by faith." The reality, Green adds, "is that for many Muslims, Sharia courts are part of an institutionalised atmosphere of intimidation backed by the ultimate sanction of a death threat." Read more ...
Five Sharia courts – in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford, and Nuneaton -- are generally acknowledged to exist in the country today. But Civitas researchers found that there are another 85 such courts operating largely out of mosques. The study concludes that such courts or tribunals are issuing rulings that breach basic principles of British law and calls for removal of their formal legal recognition under Arbitration Act 1996 (c. 23), one of the nation's most important legal statutes.
"The reality is that for many Muslims, Sharia courts are part of an institutionalised atmosphere of intimidation backed by the ultimate sanction of a death threat," Civitas Director David Green writes in an introduction to the report. "It cannot be accepted that Sharia councils are nothing more than independent arbitrators guided by faith." The reality, Green adds, "is that for many Muslims, Sharia courts are part of an institutionalised atmosphere of intimidation backed by the ultimate sanction of a death threat." Read more ...
Source: IPT Blog
Posts
