Women’s rights campaigner Professor Elham Manea has decided to boycott the government’s review of shari’a courts as she believes that the Inquiry will not address their discriminatory nature.
In a statement she expressed concerns about the terms of reference of the panel: the inclusion of a number of Islamic scholars on the panel, who are part of the system they are supposed to be investigating, rather than exclusively judges, lawyers and human rights experts to examine a human rights issue; the specific issues before the Inquiry, which did not include, among others, the type of law being implemented and the role of Islamic extremism in the promotion of this parallel legal system, as well as the implications for the scope and impartiality of the Inquiry.
Strong reservations
Women’s rights campaigner Baroness Cox has also expressed her strong reservations about the terms of reference of this Inquiry. She has invited the government to adopt her Mediation and Arbitration Services (Equality) Bill which has strong support from all parties in both Houses of Parliament as well as from Muslim women’s organisations.
