insert witty title here

In reply to Brent's comment yesterday, I've done a little digging on the issue of sharia arbitration in Canada's civil courts. If you google "Sharia Law Canada" you'll find a whole lot of opinions on the topic but very little fact. This is what I've determined:

1. Canada's Islamic Institute of Civil Justice was formed in October and plans to begin arbitrating family and business disputes early next year using some aspects of sharia in Ontario.

2. Ontario and other Canadian provinces have long allowed the use of arbitrators in civil disputes, whether religious or not.

3. A similar system of dispute resolution already exists in the Jewish community where a couple that obtains a divorce from a rabbi can have it recognized by the courts. Other religious matters can be taken before rabbinical courts.

4. Sharia arbitration will only be used when both disputing parties agree to it.

5. The federal government has said it "had no position" on the issue as provinces set laws on property and civil rights in their own jurisdictions as long as they do not breach the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the country's supreme law

That's the gist of it. Everything else seems to be speculation, opinion and conjecture. My understanding of sharia can best be described as...limited, so I'm not prepared to have an opinion until I'm better informed on the subject. In the meantime, I think it's important to keep in mind that sharia would only be applied to limited civil disputes, will not supercede the Criminal Code of Canada or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that the civil court system would not be obligated to uphold the arbitration, only take it into consideration.

I think that some people have raised legitimate concerns regarding the psychological pressure that one party in a dispute may apply to the other party to accept sharia arbitration - but at the same time I think it would be arrogant to insist that non-Islamic arbitrations don't often involve those types of headgames already.

It will still be up to the civil court Judge to evaluate the fairness of the arbitration process and render a decision accordingly- just like always. Like anything new, there will be a learning curve and precedents will be set but that's the nature of an evolving judicial system.

My advice is that we see how it plays out for a while before reaching any conclusions.

For those interested, here are two websites I've found on sharia law:
a plain-speaking one and one with more legal background.