Request for UK Courts to Recognise Shariah Law

We in the UK live in a multi-cultural society and respect all faiths and it is particularly important for those wanting to practise Shari’ah Law to be able to find amicable solutions, rather than it being left to the country of origin where the Shariah Agreement was made, leaving British citizens with no recourse from the UK legal system with respect of divorce; children’s custody and other family matters.

In this particular time with an ever increasing need for human rights and legal rights to be protected; it is important to protect such individual rights. This means that if Shari'ah rules were to be implemented into the legal system it would give a greater protection to such individual rights.

According to an article in The Guardian on 9th November 2009, at present the government has little power to intervene in around 40% of all abduction cases, as they involve children being taken to countries not signed up to the Hague Convention, an International Treaty which obliges nations to promptly return children wrongfully retained in their jurisdiction.

There has become an increasing issue of mothers being separated from their children because Shari’ah Law is not recognised by the English Courts. This is illustrated by the findings that almost 500 children were abducted from the UK and taken abroad illegally in 2008, according to figures released to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act. Experts confirm that it is often almost impossible for mothers to get back children taken by their fathers to Islamic countries with Shari’ah law.