Rule of secretive ‘judges’

SECRETIVE Sharia councils rule in family and inheritance disputes between Muslims who agree to be bound by the decisions.

The tribunals practise Sharia law, the legal system derived from the Koran and the rulings of Islamic scholars, which are known as fatwas.

It provides a code for living – including prayers, fasting and donating to the poor – but is also notorious for laying down extreme punishments such as death by stoning for adultery.

There are believed to be as many as 85 sharia councils in the UK, mainly attached to mosques, which settle disputes according to religious principles. Whilst Sharia is a source of guidance for many Muslims, the councils – which are recognised under the Arbitration Act – have no legal jurisdiction in England and Wales, so cannot overrule domestic courts.

Bu there have been growing concerns that the hard-line views of some ‘judges’ mean that parts of the parallel justice system were ‘incompatible’ with the law of the land and discriminated against British Muslim women.

An independent report written in 2015 by a Dutch academic who was granted unprecedented access to Islamic divorce hearings in London and Birmingham found strong evidence of discrimination.