Top judges in key ruling on sharia marriage

[CHIMO]

Source: The Observer

Three senior judges are to rule on the legality of an arranged marriage conducted in the UK under sharia law, a judgment that could have profound consequences for British Muslims.

Last week, as Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared it was 'inevitable' that certain parts of Islamic law would be introduced into Britain, the Court of Appeal was told how a 26-year-old British Muslim with learning difficulties was married over the telephone to a woman in Bangladesh. It was arranged by the man's father and deemed lawful under sharia law.

Lord Justice Thorpe, Lord Justice Hall and Lady Justice Hallett were asked by the man's family to reject an earlier decision that, because the groom was unable to give his consent, the marriage was unlawful. Mr Justice Wood said that the true test into the validity of the marriage was 'whether the marriage is so offensive to the conscience of the English court that it should refuse to recognise and give effect to the proper foreign law'.

Head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, echoed these sentiments and added: 'I don't believe in a multicultural society. When people come into this country they have to obey the laws of the land.'



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/10/religion.law2

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Some Catholics are going to have to evaluate whether their religion is part of Caeser's area or is it dependent on who is Caeser?