British Law Society Reverses Itself on Sharia

The Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, has reversed its decision to publish a “Practice Note” to its members regarding how to facilitate the use of Shariah compliant wills.  The publication met a storm of criticism, leading the society to reverse itself. The Society’s president Andrew Caplen, apologized for publishing the guidelines.

Our practice note was intended to support members to better serve their clients as far as is allowed by the law of England and Wales,” said Mr Caplen. “We reviewed the note in the light of criticism. “We have withdrawn the note and we are sorry.”

Critics of the practice had warned that shariah law does not guarantee equal rights in the division of property and is discriminatory towards the rights of women, and that while written as “guidelines” Law Society Notes could become established practice as law firms feared deviating from the established procedures introduced by the Law Society. Indeed the UK government’s Solicitors Regulation Authority had included the Shariah wills Practice Law in its own guidance, before retracting it when facing criticism.

The guidelines were opposed by the National Secular Society and the One Law for All campaign.  NSS director noted the victory saying,

This is an important reverse for what had seemed to be the relentless march of sharia to becoming de facto British law. “Until now, politicians and the legal establishment either encouraged this process or spinelessly recoiled from acknowledging what was happening. “I congratulate the Law Society for heeding the objections we and others made. “This is particularly good news for women who fare so badly under sharia law, which is non-democratically determined, non-human rights compliant and discriminatory code.”

As in the United States, expressing concern regarding the application of discriminatory foreign law (including Shariah) has been routinely attacked by pro-Shariah supporters as “racist.” As Lawyers Secular Society leader Sadikur Rahman noted to the Telegraph,

“The language that they have chosen to use today is quite astonishing for an organisation that only a few months ago was resistant to change at all,” he said. He added that it was a vindication for those who were accused of racism or being anti-Muslim for questioning the wisdom of original practice note. “You should be able to criticise an ideology, that should not be taken as racism,” he said.

Rahman also pointed out that while the Lawyers Society Practice Note was not legally binding, it was being treated as an endorsement of Shariah, “I certainly heard from Muslim lawyers congratulating the Law Society for having issued it, the way they saw it was that the Law Society had come on board with sharia law.”

This same kind of incremental approach to establishing shariah law has also taken place in the United States, as noted in the Center’s 2011 publication of Shariah Law and American State Courts: An Assessment of State Appellate Court Cases. An updated study on the topic is due out from the Center for Security Policy Press some time later this year.