Legal Pluralism in the UK

The UK allows the application of Islamic law in family affairs in shari’a councils and Muslim Arbitration Tribunals. Muslims are not the only group that resort to their religious laws.

The 2001 census estimated that the Muslim population in the UK is 1.6 million, or 2.7 per cent of the total population. Between 2004 and 2008, according to the Office of National Statistics, the number grew by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million, a growth rate ten times that of the rest of British society. In 2011 the number rose to more than 2.7 million. Nearly half of those people were born in the UK.¹² In 2017 the UK Muslim population rose to 4.1 million, or 6.3 per cent of the total population.¹³

Application of Islamic law takes two forms, in the Shari’a Coun­cils and in the Muslim Arbitration Councils. The number of Shari’a Councils is unknown and ranges from 35 to 85 councils.¹⁴ These are not subject to any supervision, they deny access to legal advice and l egal assistance, appeals to their decisions are not possible, and their focus is on family disputes. The majority of their applicants are women, who seek a religious divorce from their husbands. Muslim Arbitration Tribunals apply Islamic law under the British Arbitration Act of 1996 and therefore their judgments are legally binding. Both parties must agree first to arbitration. There are indications that these tribunals, just like the councils, have turned into parallel legal struc­tures. They arbitrate on family disputes, domestic violence, and even in cases of child abuse.¹⁵

The next sections will address the following three questions: what is the profile of women turning to shari’a courts? Why do they turn to these courts? And finally what type of law is being used in these courts?