Sep 9 2008 By Les Reid
A MUSLIM college in Warwickshire is running the UK's first official sharia law court.The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal has used sharia law to settle more than 100 civil disputes between Muslims across the UK since it opened last December.
The tribunal, which runs along side the British legal system, was set up by scholars and lawyers at Hijaz College Islamic University in Watling Street, Nuneaton.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, recently said there was no reason why sharia law, derived from several sources including the Koran, could not be used for contractual agreements and marital disputes.
Cases already heard in Nuneaton include an inheritance dispute between three sisters and their two brothers, a divorce and a neighbour dispute.
In the inheritance case, the men were given double their sisters' inheritance.
The divorce hearing ruled that a Somalian woman should be granted an Islamic khula (annulment) despite her husband's strong objections.
And in the neighbourhood dispute, the tribunal ruled that the losing party - a group of young Muslim graduates - should teach the winning party, who had young children.
Faisal Aqtab Siddiqi, a commercial law barrister and head of Hijaz College, has sat in judgment at a number of the tribunals.
He said it was not the same as unofficial sharia courts reported to be in operation across the country.
He said: "We are trying to supplement English law by helping the British citizen not to be forced into or coerced into marriage."
The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Dr Michael NazirAli, who was born in Pakistan and has both a Christian and Muslim family background, said he was concerned that people might feel coerced into accepting sharia arbitration.
Dr Nazir-Ali, who converted from Islam to Christianity, warned that recognising the tribunals could lead to discrimination, particularly against Muslim women.
The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal operates in tandem with the British legal system, and decisions challenged by the losing party will be upheld by a county court bailiff or high court sheriff.
The Nuneaton tribunal cannot force anyone to come within its jurisdiction. But once someone agrees to settle a dispute at the tribunal, he or she is bound in English law to abide by the court's decision.
Mr Siddiqi said: "As long as the parties have submitted to the tribunal's jurisdiction, a county court bailiff or high court sheriff can enforce our decisions.
"If the losing party objects, the winning one has to apply to the county court or high court who will enforce the tribunals' decisions, as long as they are reasonable.
"What we decide will be upheld by the British courts as long as both parties agree to submit to our jurisdiction in the first place."
The only exception in which both parties must submit to the court's jurisdiction is divorce cases.
"The tribunal can grant a Muslim woman an annulment irrespective of the husband's wishes.
"This is to enable her to marry again without being considered to be living in sin.
The college is at Higham Hall, a former stately home. A £5 million expansion aims to to raise student accommodation capacity from 125 to 750.
Source:
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/north-warwickshire-news/2008/09/09/first-uk-sharia-court-up-and-running-in-warwickshire-92746-21708478/Thanks to http://pi-news.net for the issue
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