Canada to Introduce Sharia Courts
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Canada to Introduce Sharia Courts
Canadians Muslims will get sharia courts to settle disputes
By David Usborne in New York
29 April 2004
Canada is embarking on an unusual judicial experiment that will allow members of its Muslim community to submit to the teachings of the Koran to resolve a variety of civil legal disputes, ranging from divorces to business conflicts.
The new model, which will be closely examined by other countries grappling with the place of growing Muslim communities in their populations, is to be administered by a body of imams and Islamic scholars, the Islamic Institute of Justice, which was created at the end of last year.
It will be pioneered in the province of Ontario under a law introduced in 1991, the Ontario Arbitration Act, which allows minority groups to provide arbitration to members in a limited number of civil matters. Enforcement of rulings and awards would be left to Canada's regular courts.
Many of Canada's 600,000 Muslims have applauded the opportunity to settle differences according to Islamic law. Known as sharia, it is drawn from the Koran and from the teachings of the prophet Mohamed. It is hoped that if significant numbers of Muslims agree to settle disputes before the arbitrators, pressure will be taken off the province's clogged court system. "Many judges prefer this," said Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress. "If Canadian Muslims have an impartial body they trust, it will ease the backlog in the courts."
Controversy surrounds the initiative even within the Muslim community. Suggestions that it could lead to the stoning of women for adultery have been swiftly knocked down by Canadian authorities, who point out that the new courts would still have to respect all provisions of the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantees human and equal rights. But they will not be allowed to deal with criminal matters. Ontario's government is insisting that cases will only go before Muslim arbitrators with the voluntary assent of all parties involved.
Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the Ontario attorney general, said: "If the award is not compatible with Canadian law, then the court will not enforce it. You can't agree to violate Canadian law."
There is also the concern among some Muslim women that they will feel religious and social pressure to enter the Sharia system when sometimes they would rather avoid it.
"If I am a woman of faith, and the community of people who see themselves as leaders say that if I do not follow the sharia court here, the Islamic Institute, then I will be tantamount to blasphemy and apostasy," said Alia Hogben of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women.
By David Usborne in New York
29 April 2004
Canada is embarking on an unusual judicial experiment that will allow members of its Muslim community to submit to the teachings of the Koran to resolve a variety of civil legal disputes, ranging from divorces to business conflicts.
The new model, which will be closely examined by other countries grappling with the place of growing Muslim communities in their populations, is to be administered by a body of imams and Islamic scholars, the Islamic Institute of Justice, which was created at the end of last year.
It will be pioneered in the province of Ontario under a law introduced in 1991, the Ontario Arbitration Act, which allows minority groups to provide arbitration to members in a limited number of civil matters. Enforcement of rulings and awards would be left to Canada's regular courts.
Many of Canada's 600,000 Muslims have applauded the opportunity to settle differences according to Islamic law. Known as sharia, it is drawn from the Koran and from the teachings of the prophet Mohamed. It is hoped that if significant numbers of Muslims agree to settle disputes before the arbitrators, pressure will be taken off the province's clogged court system. "Many judges prefer this," said Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress. "If Canadian Muslims have an impartial body they trust, it will ease the backlog in the courts."
Controversy surrounds the initiative even within the Muslim community. Suggestions that it could lead to the stoning of women for adultery have been swiftly knocked down by Canadian authorities, who point out that the new courts would still have to respect all provisions of the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantees human and equal rights. But they will not be allowed to deal with criminal matters. Ontario's government is insisting that cases will only go before Muslim arbitrators with the voluntary assent of all parties involved.
Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the Ontario attorney general, said: "If the award is not compatible with Canadian law, then the court will not enforce it. You can't agree to violate Canadian law."
There is also the concern among some Muslim women that they will feel religious and social pressure to enter the Sharia system when sometimes they would rather avoid it.
"If I am a woman of faith, and the community of people who see themselves as leaders say that if I do not follow the sharia court here, the Islamic Institute, then I will be tantamount to blasphemy and apostasy," said Alia Hogben of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women.
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"Nobody seems to want to live in a democracy anymore. All they want is to live in a dictatorship that supports their point of view."
"Nobody seems to want to live in a democracy anymore. All they want is to live in a dictatorship that supports their point of view."
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The Observer
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The Observer
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The Observer
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The Observer
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Yep. The scope of the application of Islamic law in Canada does not cover criminal matters.27 wrote:The Observer, so in short that can't be tried in any Canadian court 'cos it's illegal for Sharia courts to try it and it's not a crime by conventional Canadian law?
Since the 18th/19th century, the area of controversy between common law and the Shari'ah is on criminal matters. In Nigeria, as far back as the 19th century, there were disputes between the Colonial government and Courts administering Islamic law. Colonial governments resolved to accommodate the Shari'ah with the exception of criminal matters. This was the case in India, Sudan and in Nigeria. In Nigeria, the whole process of eliminating the application of Islamic criminal law took about 30 years (1930s -1960). This position has been maintained (in the 21st century) in Canada.
These people and their wahala 
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.....
"“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
MLK.
"“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
MLK.
