SOAS Research Online

Abstract

In February 2018 ‘The Independent Review into the Application of Sharia Law in England and Wales’ was published with a focus on whether Sharia Law is being misused or applied in a way that is incompatible with the domestic law in England and Wales. In particular it raised questions as to whether there were discriminatory practices against women who use Sharia Councils and came about after years of concerns raised by academics, lawyers and women’s activists. The British Muslim identity reveals important insights into the ways in which community formation and legal regulation and the rights of minority religious communities have taken shape over the past five decades and this chapter draws upon the Inquiry findings to consider whether religious tribunals can be reformed from within and if so whether the parity governance model is a useful model of application.