Help stop Sharia Law in the UK
In matters of justice the statement ‘There but for the grace of God I go’ should never have to apply, we should demand the same result from any legal ruling to uphold the same standard. Our laws are designed to be fair, just and most importantly to apply to everyone on equal terms, this is important because the statue of justice outside of the Old Bailey Central Criminal Courts in London wears a blindfold to represent something. Not only is justice inescapable it also means that it should never depend upon who is seeking justice and who has committed the crime, it should be blind to these things and only consider the facts of the case. Sharia Law in the UK is already being used through the Arbitration Act 1996, involving both civil and criminal matters. To a certain extent rather than both UK law and Sharia Law working together, the normal form of justice is being removed all together. No one should have a problem with any community seeking justice still everyone should have a problem when they use laws to make unfair judgements legal which are only justifiable to those who follow certain religious beliefs. Most importantly it’s not about taking power away from just courts, Sharia courts have every right to apply British law as long as it remains just, fair and the right thing to do
The safe guard within Sharia courts is claimed to be that both sides have to agree to enter the judgement before it can be passed, in a community which does not completely remove pressure or social stigma it is questionable whether certain people are at threat of being pushed into these courts. It is also clear that women generally suffer more than men under Sharia law, under general conditions for finance men are awarded twice as much as women although under British law they are awarded equal amounts. The main issue here is that women are not seen as deserving the same rights as men. This should not be the notion of law we should allow anyone in this country to be under because it’s neither fair nor right. If you agree that law should be blind and justifiable to everyone then please sign the petition below. It should not be signed through fear or ignorance but the desire that everyone deserves the right to blind justice in a system that is open to checks and balances. Sign because you want to make sure every person regardless of religion, gender or anything else deserves to be considered equal in the eyes of the law and that the law should always remain blind. You have to be British to sign the petition. Thank you.
Read the response to the petition here: http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page18913
Update:
The government response is based on the idea that people have to agree so therefore, it is perfectly acceptable that Sharia Law to be applied under the name of ‘councils decisions’ as long as it does not go against UK law. This still does not sit comfortably with the reasons why I supported the petition in the first place. Let’s take a look at a very recent development, the report that is due today (20th May’09) on the 60 years of abuses that happened in Catholic institutions in Ireland. Not to produce a theory before the report is out but the question could be asked why did these abuses happen not in state run institutions rather Catholic ones? Perhaps because these very institutions did not have the checks and balances and where ultimately closed for public scrutiny, the worry is that the Sharia councils could be open to the same sorts of attitudes. We should still be concerned that in the UK unjust judgements are being enforced by UK law. We’ll have to see how this turns out in the future!
In case you don’t know, a new campaign has been launched today to stop Sharia Law – “One Law For All”.
I have details at my blog:
http://keeptonyblairforpm.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/one-law-for-all-no-sharia-here/