17 June 2010

New Report by One Law for All

“Sharia Law in Britain: A Threat to One Law for All and Equal Rights”

A new report by One Law for All has found Sharia Councils and Muslim Arbitration Tribunals to be in violation of UK law, public policy and human rights (see report here).

The report is being launched to coincide with a 20 June 2010 rally on the issue of Sharia law.

Based on an 8 March 2010 Seminar on Sharia Law, research, interviews, and One Law for All case files, the report has identified a number of problem areas:

- Sharia law’s civil code is arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular. With the rise in the acceptance of Sharia courts, discrimination is being further institutionalised with some UK law firms additionally offering clients advice on Sharia law and the use of collaborative law.

- Sharia law is practiced in Britain primarily by Sharia Councils and Muslims Arbitration Tribunals. Both operate on religious principles and are harmful to women although Muslim Arbitration Tribunals are wrongly regarded as being of more concern because they operate as tribunals under the Arbitration Act 1996, making their rulings binding in law.

- Sharia Councils, on the other hand, claim to mediate on family issues but in practice often this differs little from arbitration: they frequently ask those appearing before them to sign an agreement to abide by their decisions; they call themselves courts, and the presiding imams, judges. Their decisions are then imposed and regarded as having the weight of legal judgements.

- There is neither control over the appointment of “judges” in Sharia Councils or Tribunals nor an independent mechanism for monitoring them. Clients often do not have access to legal advice and representation. The proceedings are not recorded, nor are there any searchable legal judgements, nor any real right of appeal.

- Sharia law cannot be compared to secular legal systems because it is considered sacred law that cannot be challenged. There is no scope to look at the interests of the individuals involved, as required by UK family law.

- These legal processes ignore both common law and due process, far less Human Rights, and provide little protection and safety for women in violent situations.

- There is a general assumption that those who attend Sharia courts do so voluntarily and that unfair decisions can be challenged in a British court. Many of the principles of Sharia law are contrary to British law and public policy, and would in theory therefore be unlikely to be upheld in a British court. In reality, however, women are often pressured by their families into going to these courts and adhering to unfair decisions, and may lack knowledge of English and their rights under British law. Moreover, refusal to settle a dispute in a Sharia court can give rise to threats and intimidation, or at best being ostracised.

According to Maryam Namazie, spokesperson of the One Law for All Campaign and an author of the report, “The existence of a parallel legal system that is denying a large section of the British population their fundamental human rights is scandalous. Our findings show that it is essential to abolish all religious courts in the UK. Their very existence and legitimisation puts pressure on vulnerable women not to assert their civil rights in a British court. As long as Sharia Councils and Tribunals are allowed to continue to make rulings on issues of family law, women will be pressured into accepting decisions which are prejudicial to them and their children.”

The report recommends that Sharia courts be closed on the grounds that they work against rather than for equality, and are incompatible with human rights. Recommendations include:

1. initiating a Human Rights challenge to Muslim Arbitration Tribunals and/or Sharia Councils
2. amending the Arbitration Act under which the Muslim Arbitration Tribunals operate in a similar way to which the Canadian equivalent of the Arbitration Act was amended in 2005 to exclude religious arbitration
3. launching a major and nationwide helpline and information campaign to inform people of their rights under British law
4. proposing legislation under the EU Citizens Rights Initiative to address the issue EU-wide, and
5. strengthening secularism and the separation of religion from the state, the judicial system and education, in order to more fully protect citizenship rights.

The full report can be downloaded here.

Notes:

1. The report can be downloaded free of charge or a paperback copy purchased from One Law for All for £5.00 plus £2.00 Shipping and Handling. To purchase the book or donate to the work of One Law for All, please either send a cheque to our address below or pay via Paypal by visiting: Donate Page.

2. The One Law for All Campaign was launched on 10 December 2008, International Human Rights Day, to call on the UK Government to recognise that Sharia and religious courts are arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular and that citizenship and human rights are non-negotiable.

3. For further information contact:

Maryam Namazie
Spokesperson
One Law for All
BM Box 2387
London WC1N 3XX, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 7719166731
onelawforall@gmail.com
www.onelawforall.org.uk

Download report here

A Referral and Information Guide on British Family Law, Sharia Law and Women’s Rights, August 2011 [internal link]

One Law for All Spokesperson Anne Marie Waters provides guidance to lawyers on the discriminatory nature of Sharia law’s family code and its violation of British law and public policy:

One Law for All Spokesperson Anne Marie Waters provides guidance to women who feel pressured into going to Sharia courts on the real distinctions between UK civil law and discriminatory Sharia law:

New One Law for All flyer for download [internal link]

Enemies not Allies: The Far-Right, One Law for All report, August 2011 [internal link]

Apostasy and Asylum in the united Kingdom guidelines by the Council of ex-muslims of Britain[internal link]

CEMB guidelines For Ex-Muslims and Frontline Practitioners [internal link]

Know your rights under the British family law, One Law for All factsheet, September 2010 [internal link]

Sharia Law in Britain: A Threat to One Law for All and Equal Rights, June 2010 [internal link]

One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain leaflet [Download]

POSTERS

Posters for download and distribution [internal link]

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON SHARIA LAW

A review of the Muslim Personal/Family Law Campaign, Canadian Society of Muslims, August 1995 [external link]

Advice to Gays and Lesbians, Islamic Sharia Council [external link]

Afkhami, Mahnaz and Erika Friedl, eds. In the Eye of the Storm: Women in Post-Revolutionary Iran. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1994 [external link]

Arbitration Act 1991 (Canada) [external link]

Arbitration Act 1996 (UK) [external link]

Court rules Islamic law discriminatory, The Independent, 23 Oct 2008 [external link]

Crimes of the community, Honour-based violence in the UK, Centre for Social Cohesion, second edition, 2010 [external link]

Deeming Shariah as Incompetent, Islamic Sharia Council [external link]

Divorce, Iranian Style [external link]

Divorce, Sharia Style, Channel 4, February 2008 [external link]

Faith-Based Arbitration and Mediation in the UK, Lawyers Secular Society [external link]

Fears over non-Muslims’ use of Islamic law to resolve disputes, The Guardian, 14 March 2010 [external link]

Five executed on 9 May for enmity against God, Iran Solidarity, 13 May 2010 [external link]

Gaza Women denied inheritance rights, Jerusalem Post, 7 March 2010 [external link]

Guidelines for Ex-Muslims and Frontline Practitioners, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, May 2010 [external link]

How Islam views homosexuality, IslamOnline [external link]

Human Rights test case call for sharia law, Law Society Gazette, 24 June 2010 [external link]

I would be executed in Iran for this [external link]

Imam’s biased against women, BBC Asian Network, 15 December 2008 [external link]

In the name of the law, The Guardian, 14 June 2007 [external link]

International Campaign against Sharia Court in Canada [external link]

Iranian women to be filmed and fined if they don’t wear the veil right, Firat News Agency, 27 May 2010 [external link]

Islamic [in]justice, on the establishment of an Islamic court in Canada, Maryam Namazie, 8 March 2004 [external link]

Islamic court condemns author who depicts Jesus as homosexual, The Independent, 30 October 1999 [external link]

Islamic Family Arbitration, Justice and Human Rights in Britain, Samia Bano, University of Reading, 6 December 2007 [external link]

Islamic perspective on child custody after divorce, Islamic Sharia Council [external link]

Islamic Sharia Council [external link]

It’s time to take a stand against Islam and Sharia, Times, March 11, 2008 [internal link]

Khula case, Islamic Sharia Council [external link]

Launch of One Law for All Campaign, House of Lords, 10 December 2008 [internal link]

Malaysia postpones caning of woman for Ramadan, Amnesty International, 24 August 2009 [external link]

Maryam Namazie on new Sharia report, BBC Breakfast TV, 20 June 2010 [internal link]

Morocco: Ramadan fast break protestors arrested, Women Living Under Muslims Laws, 17 September 2009 [external link]

Muslim Arbitration Tribunal [external link]

Muslim leaders’ death threat calls over dress, The Express, 7 March 2010 [external link]

On the Testimony of Women, Islamic Sharia Council [external link]

One Law for All Campaign [internal link]

One Law for All Seminar on Sharia Law, 8 March 2010 [internal link]

Opinions Of The Lords Of Appeal For Judgement In The Cause EM (Lebanon) (FC) (Appellant) (FC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] UKHL 64 on appeal from :[2006] EWCA Civ 1531 [external link]

Parwez Kambakhsh sentenced to 20 years, RAWA News, 21 October 2008 [external link]

Pregnant Nigerian seeks Sharia asylum, BBC, 22 August 2002 [external link]

Q&A: ‘Divinely Ordained Law Makes Abolition More Difficult,’ interview with Maryam Namazie, IPS, 2 December 2008 [external link]

Recognizing the Un-Recognized: Inter-Country Cases and Muslim Marriages & Divorces in Britain, WLUML Publications, January 2006 [external link]

Saudi, 2 Yemenis suffer amputation, Sodomy Laws, 13 February 2000 [external link]

Scots Lawyers lead way with Sharia advice, Sunday Herald Scotland, 7 March 2010 [external link]

Sharia a threat to Britain’s future as ‘tolerant’ society, Times, 30 December 2009 [external link]

Sharia court frees London knife youths, This is London, 8 February 2008 [external link]

Sharia Delusions in Canterbury, Mona Eltahawy, Women Living Under Muslim Laws, 14 February 2008 [external link]

Sharia law ‘could have a UK role,’ BBC, 4 July 2008 [external link]

Sharia law courts operating in Britain, Telegraph, 16 Sept 2008 [external link]

Sharia law in UK is ‘Unavoidable,’ BBC, 7 February 2008 [external link]

Sharia law is proposed, BBC, 10 December 2009 [external link]

Sharia law or One Law for All, Civitas, June 2009 [external link]

Sharia law, The Guardian, 20 August 2002 [external link]

Sharia, BBC [external link]

The Family Statute Law Amendment Act 2005 (Canada) [external link]

Vs Sharia, Maryam Namazie, Independent World, February 1, 2010 [external link]

We have had to flee to escape Sharia, Maryam Namazie, Guardian, Another Thought for the Day, 18 February 2009 [Internal Link]

We want to offer Sharia law, The Telegraph, 20 January 2008 [external link]

What isn’t wrong with Sharia law, Maryam Namazie, Guardian’s Legal Website, 5 July 2010 [external link]

Williams under fire in Sharia row, BBC, 8 February 2008 [external link]

Women are being beheaded for taking their veil off in Iraq, Alternet, 30 April 2008 [external link]

Women’s Rights and Sharia, NPTI [external link]