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Sharia Courts "Legally Binding" In UK
Well, Rowan Williams will be pleased, as will those prominent legal minds who said it was vital and inevitable that Sharia Law be introduced to Britain.
It is reported today that Islamic Sharia courts are exploiting a loophole in British law and pronouncing judgements on cases including divorce, financial disputes and even domestic violence.
The government has tolerated Sharia law for various civil law cases, but the move into criminal and family law seems to confirm warnings about "two-tiered" and "alternative" justice systems developing in Britain.
Already, the courts are handing down judgements which clearly defy common British values on equal rights. The Mail reports,
"In one recent inheritance dispute in Nuneaton, a Muslim man's estate was spit was between three daughters and two sons with each son receiving twice as much as each daughter - in keeping with sharia law."
A mainstream court would have demanded equal treatment.
More worrying is the movement of Sharia into criminal law.
The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal panels, operate in London, Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham and Nuneaton. Two more are more planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh. They have handled over 100 cases in recent months, including six cases of domestic violence.
"In all six cases, he said, sharia judges ordered husbands to take anger management classes and mentoring from community elders, but issued no further punishment.
"All the women subsequently withdrew their complaints to the police, who halted investigations."
Supporters of the court argue that marriages were saved; critics say that the women may have been pressurised into accepting the judgement of Sharia courts, and that husbands escaped harsher punishment.
In little over a year, these courts have moved from arbitrating on family and neighbourhood disputes to passing judgement on criminal violence.
What next - and where will they stop? Britain has an alternative legal system developing under the noses of the authorities. Indeed, the police seem to be colluding with the courts, dropping investigations into violent incidents on the Sharia courts' say-so.
Indeed, it's possible that Muslim police officers are acting in the interests of their fellow worshippers. A report two years ago warned that Asian and Pakistani officers "are under greater pressure from the family, the extended family ... and their community against that of their white colleagues to engage in activity that might lead to misconduct or criminality."
Similarly, two Christian preachers were booted out of a Muslim neighbourhood in Birmingham. The officer, who was very aggressive, told the preachers
"We were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message. He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station."
There have also been reports of Pakistani police officers and government officers failing to help women fleeing their families in "honour crimes" cases, even returning them to their families in the knowledge that they face harsh punishment.
"Terrified victims who seek official help are even being tracked down by a network of Asian men working in Government departments and social services, according to a study written by the think-tank Social Cohesion," said one report.
Wonder if Dr Williams and his supporters still believe Sharia is essential for Britain?
