On 23 October the House of Lords debated a Bill which seeks to restrain the operation of shari’a councils in England and Wales.
The Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill was tabled by Baroness Cox.
Baroness Cox said the Bill seeks to address: ‘The suffering of women oppressed by religiously-sanctioned gender discrimination in this country and a rapidly developing alternative quasi-legal system which undermines the fundamental principle of one law for all.’ She noted that this is: ‘A matter of especial significance as we mark the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta.’ Baroness Cox stressed that: ‘The chasm between the de jure situation and the de facto reality is an abyss into which countless women are falling’, and urged the Government to welcome the Bill.
Cox noted that shari’a law allows a man to divorce his wife by saying ‘I divorce you’ three times, permits the existence of polygamous marriages and leads to domestic violence being condoned because a man is allowed to chastise his wife. While some shari’a councils in Britain operate within the law, there are concerns that others seek to establish a parallel legal system, thought to be the cause of much suffering for women.
