Muslim community uses own tribunals

Islamic tribunals have been set up in the West Midlands to resolve disputes among the Muslim community.

Special hearings, comprising of an Islamic scholar and a lawyer, are hearing arguments before making rulings which are legally binding before proceedings start. A Black Country judge has been appointed to advise the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) on how to make their rulings fit in with English law.

Shamim Qureshi, a district judge who lives in Wolverhampton and regularly sits at the city's magistrates court, said they were not Sharia courts and were legally binding under the Arbitration Act 1996.

He told the Express & Star today: "That suggests it's a court and that Sharia law is adopted in its entirety. We're taking a bit of it, which is civil Islamic law.

"MAT is arbitration and that exists in this country. Any two people can agree to it, just like a contract with an insurance company for home insurance."

He highlighted one case where one man was found by the panel to owe money to another man.

The panel highlighted the fact that the debtor spoke Arabic and ruled that he should teach the language to the son of the man he owed money to.

Mr Qureshi said: "Both sides were happy to deal with it in that way.

"It's the community dealing with this when it could have gone to the county court, where you could have had lawyers and Legal Aid and the decision would be that he would have had to pay back the money and it can be fairly harsh."

The hearings, which are open to the public except in cases where sensitive family matters are discussed, can be held anywhere. Dominic Grieve, the shadow Home Secretary, said any decisions passed on family and criminal law would be "unlawful".

In family law, the tribunals can grant Islamic divorces but a couple would only be legally divorced under British law if it was granted by a British court.