There are five courts that now have the force of law. These courts are located in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, and the headquarters court in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Additional courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.
These courts now have the ability to rule on civil cases, including family law cases such as divorce and domestic violence, as well as on cases involving financial disputes.
Once in these courts, decisions are legally binding with the full power of the judicial system, including the High Court.
Sharia law is quite controversial. Many are concerned that under sharia law, women get much worse treatment than men. For instance, in a recent inheritance case handled by the Islamic court in Nuneaton, the estate of a Midlands man was divided between three daughters and two sons. The two sons got twice as much as the three daughters, which is what sharia law mandates. Under British law, in a normal British court, the daughters would have been treated equally.
Meanwhile, in six cases of domestic violence, the sharia courts have ordered only anger management classes and mentoring, with no further punishment.
This is yet another step in the controversial Islamicization of Great Britain. Seven months ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was hammered for suggesting that the establishment of sharia seemed to be “unavoidable.” This development, however, seems to bear him out.
But there is also a pushback against the sharia courts. Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, went on the record to state: “If it is true that these tribunals are passing binding decisions in the areas of family and criminal law, I would like to know which courts are enforcing them because I would consider such action unlawful. British law is absolute and must remain so.”
Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said: “I think it’s appalling. I don’t think arbitration that is done by sharia should ever be endorsed or enforced by the British state.”
These sharia courts are being justified by their proponents as being similar to Jewish courts, or the Jewish Bin Deth. Those courts have been around for over 100 years, and have operated quite well so far.
