Britain officially adopts Sharia law on the sly

LONDON: Even as the debate over whether Sharia courts should be allowed in Britain continues, a network of courts based on Islamic law already exists in the country and its rulings are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system.

The government has quietly given Sharia courts the power to rule on Muslim civil cases ranging from divorce, financial disputes to domestic violence. Earlier, Shaira law could not be enforced, and while they did exist they depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims.

But this has changed with government granting them powers to enforce through county courts or the high court. A network of five courts have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with its headquarters in Nuneaton in Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, which runs the courts have used a clause in the Arbitration Act of 1996. "We realised that under this Act we can make rulings which can be enforced by county and high courts," said Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, chairman of the governing council of the tribunal. "The act allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what Sharia courts are," he added.

Muslim tribunals have been passing Sharia judgements since 2007 and have dealt with more than 100 cases dealing mostly with divorce, inheritance and nuisance neighbours. " Jewish Beth Din courts operate in Britain under the same provision in the Arbitration Act and have been dispensing justice for over a 100 years.

Some politicians and Christian clergy have expressed concern that this could mark the beginning of a 'parallel legal system' for British Muslims.