Reveal UK's Official Sharia Courts: What's Going On?

[Gokul43201]

What on Earth is going on here?

Revealed: UK’s first official sharia courts
Abul Taher

ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.

The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4749183.ece

And on the other hand...

What can sharia courts do in Britain?
Islamic judges can resolve disputes by agreement but cannot grant divorces or punish crimes.

By Joshua Rozenberg
Last Updated: 11:05AM BST 15 Sep 2008

“Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain,” claims a Sunday newspaper. The Government has “quietly sanctioned” powers for sharia judges to rule on divorce case, its report insists.

The truth is much more prosaic. The report produces no evidence to suggest that the Government has sanctioned any powers for sharia judges at all, quietly or otherwise. And a sharia court in Britain has no power to grant a divorce that is valid in English law.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...692/What-can-sharia-courts-do-in-Britain.html

So who's making stuff up, and what is really going on? Perhaps, some of our British members can shed more reliable light on the matter.

 

[Cyrus]

The British government needs to grow a pair of balls and cut out this radical nonsense the influx of Muslim population is bringing.

Its honestly quite pathetic. Talk about being PC to the extreme.

Google the protests in the UK about the cartoons of Muhammad. The people were on the streets with megaphones "We are going to bring death to the west for this!'

When people are chanting this kind of rubbish, you go to jail.

 

[Ghost803]

Personally I feel Sharia is ******** and there is no reason or justification to let stuff like that happen in Britain. But I am a brown man, so apparently I am trying to "act white". Deport everyone asking for Sharia law. If they want that crap, they can stay in Saudi Arabia,etc.

 

[castlegates]

They just got their foot in the door, or should we call it B and E.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I'm thinking that maybe they have allowed Sharia 'judges' to settle disputes through private arbitration. Likely they would still have to follow all applicable british laws but can perhaps make the muslims who go to them feel better about the judgements.

I have no idea by the way. Just guessing.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I'm thinking that maybe they have allowed Sharia 'judges' to settle disputes through private arbitration. Likely they would still have to follow all applicable british laws but can perhaps make the muslims who go to them feel better about the judgements.

I have no idea by the way. Just guessing.

That was the thought that came to my mind. Jewish religious courts are used in the US for this purpose. Both parties have to agree to using the court in civil cases. They do not have the authority to try criminal cases.

In the US we also have Judge Judy whose court, while not religious is quite real.

 

[wolram]

The British government needs to grow a pair of balls and cut out this radical nonsense the influx of Muslim population is bringing.

Its honestly quite pathetic. Talk about being PC to the extreme.

Google the protests in the UK about the cartoons of Muhammad. The people were on the streets with megaphones "We are going to bring death to the west for this!'

When people are chanting this kind of rubbish, you go to jail.

All true, and goes to show that as you say our government needs some balls, the law in this country is a joke.

 

[Anttech]

Its not a bad idea actually...

Under the act, the sharia courts are classified as arbitration tribunals. The rulings of arbitration tribunals are binding in law, provided that both parties in the dispute agree to give it the power to rule on their case.

Siddiqi said: “We realized that under the Arbitration Act we can make rulings which can be enforced by county and high courts. The act allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what the sharia courts are.”

It will work within the framework of the current Legal system in England and Scotland. - However Arbitration in Scotland works completely different from that of England. For Arbitration to work in either country, first off both parties involved need to agree to the arbiter. If the Arbiter makes a decision that either party deem illegal they can just escalate it to the court of session, then high court, then Europe.

I can't see this extending to criminal law, as the arbitration "loophole" that this guy seems to have found (its not a loophole its how the law has always worked for arbitration) won't be applicable.

 

[f95toli]

Note also that Jewish arbitration courts have been around for about 100 years or so in the UK so this is nothing new. The difference is of course that there are more Muslims than orthodox Jews here.

 

[Art]

The British government needs to grow a pair of balls and cut out this radical nonsense the influx of Muslim population is bringing.

Its honestly quite pathetic. Talk about being PC to the extreme.

Google the protests in the UK about the cartoons of Muhammad. The people were on the streets with megaphones "We are going to bring death to the west for this!'

When people are chanting this kind of rubbish, you go to jail.

They did. Those who incited violence got 6 years in prison http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6903445.stm

Far from being soft on Muslims the UK gov't has been criticised for being too tough, using 'stop and search' liberally, holding suspects without charge for up to 42 days (which the gov't want to increase to 90 days) and surveillance through data mining has now become ubiquitous. For example

Two years ago, the Government's information commissioner, Richard Thomas, said his fears the UK would "sleep walk into a surveillance society" had already become a reality and with 4.2 million cameras – one for every 14 people – scanning Britain's streets we are one of the most monitored countries in the world.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/features/No-hiding-place-how-the.4494740.jp

The British gov't spies on it's citizens in ways Soviet Russia could have only dreamed about culminating in the British now being the most snooped upon people in the western world.

 

[mal4mac]

The British government have always given far too much power to the religious establishment. For instance, Bishops sit in the House of Lords with the other unelected snobs. The Bishops wanted sharia to happen because it cements their power base, that is, Islam having some power in British society gives them an excuse for maintaining their (even greater) power. Note that Gordon Brown is a "son of the manse" and Tony Blair is highly religious, so both are quite willing to see religion maintain its unconstitutional grip on power.