Sharia law comes back in Britain

[Free Capitalist 0]

Sharia law SHOULD be used in Britain, says UK's top judge

By Steve Doughty

Last updated at 2:12 AM on 04th July 2008

Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips said that Islamic legal principles could be employed to deal with family and marital arguments and to regulate finance.

He declared: 'Those entering into a contractual agreement can agree that the agreement shall be governed by a law other than English law.'

In his speech at an East London mosque, Lord Phillips signalled approval of sharia principles as long as punishments - and divorce rulings - complied with the law of the land.

But his remarks, which back the informal sharia courts operated by numerous mosques, provoked a barrage of criticism.

Lawyers warned that family and marital disputes settled by sharia could disadvantage women or the vulnerable.

Tories said that legal equality must be respected and that rulings incompatible with English law should never be enforceable.

Lord Phillips spoke five months after Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams suggested Islamic law could govern marital law, financial transactions and arbitration in disputes.

The Lord Chief Justice said yesterday of the Archbishop's views: 'It was not very radical to advocate embracing sharia law in the context of family disputes'.

He added there is 'widespread misunderstanding as to the nature of sharia law'.

[Free Capitalist 0]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...-UKs-judge.html

[KPO'M 0]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...-UKs-judge.html

There is a grain of truth in Lord Phillips' statement, though. Two contracting parties can agree upon the legal framework to govern a contract. It happens all the time in software contracts for instance (most indicate which state or country's law will apply, without regard to conflicts-of-laws statutes). I also don't see a problem with someone offering Shariah-compliant financial products. Most of the products I've seen involve a complex series of transactions or legal entities used to disguise interest as some other form of return. It seems illogical to me, but if someone wants to buy or sell such a product and there is a willing counterparty, then what's the problem?

[Ed from OC 0]

In his speech at an East London mosque, Lord Phillips signalled approval of sharia principles as long as punishments - and divorce rulings - complied with the law of the land.

This is a little ambiguous. A generous reading of it could imply the Chief Justice is not explicitly endorsing Sharia, only saying it needn't conflict with existing British law. He could mean that it should be treated no differently than, say, rules for kosher cooking or rules for weddings within the Catholic church. If that's all that's meant, I don't see an end-of-the-world big problem here, aside from the endorsement and whitewashing of sharia law. I don't think he is saying British law should incorporate Sharia doctrine.

[Ed from OC 0]

In his speech at an East London mosque, Lord Phillips signalled approval of sharia principles as long as punishments - and divorce rulings - complied with the law of the land.

This is a little ambiguous. A generous reading of it could imply the Chief Justice is not explicitly endorsing Sharia, only saying it needn't conflict with existing British law. He could mean that it should be treated no differently than, say, rules for kosher cooking or rules for weddings within the Catholic church. If that's all that's meant, I don't see an end-of-the-world big problem here, aside from the endorsement and whitewashing of sharia law. I don't think he is saying British law should incorporate Sharia doctrine.

Sorry for the misattribution. The line I quoted is from the Daily Mail article the FC quoted, and is not an opinion of FC's.

[Free Capitalist 0]

Thanks Ed.

The shocking thing about this statement is that a) it treats sharia as a valid principle of laws period, and that it's stated by Britain's top judge. I don't know what's going on with that country.