I'm not convinced that an absence of arbitration is preferable, stevenlmeyer.

>>This raises the question as to whether arbitration should be an available option when dealing with cases involving domestic violence. It is hard to imagine a battered wife refusing her husband's insistence that any disputed be decided by a sharia court.<<

If she is unable to resist being forced to a sharia arbitration, what likelihood is there that she will approach the conventional court system? Her problem remains the same.

Nothing can condone domestic violence. But I totally fail to see how the victim being Muslim alters the odds - battered wives of all nationalities and religions have access to the court system. Only a percentage actually use it, for the reasons you have outlined.

Your argument rests totally on the concept that she will be forced to accept the sharia arbitration decision, and that - should this decision involve criminal activity - this would be upheld by the Australian courts.

I don't think so.

Does anyone have any examples from real life, rather than speculation?

OK Pericles,

You're not going to address the issues.

I get it.

Which issues, stevenlemeyer?

>>OK Pericles, You're not going to address the issues. I get it.<<

As far as I can tell, you are trawling for support for your position that sharia courts are a bad thing for Muslim women, whom you seem to assume are permanently oppressed and powerless.

Since I am not going to provide that confirmation, but instead continue to question your assumptions, you have decided that this approach is "not addressing the issues".

Fair enough, it's your thread.

But it would help us all a great deal in future if you simply said at the beginning that "only people who agree with me should add their comments here".

Would save time all round, don't you think?

Stevenlmeyer,

I don’t think you will get many sensible posts from most here .
It’s a good topic but ....

I was surprised nobody was unaware of the State Governments giving consent to use Sharia law in domestic abattoirs + probably not David either.

Because you opened this thread to discuss Sharia Law I thought I should point out in some areas in Australia it has been allowed + for some time.

Instead of these posters being thankful for the information (which clearly they were unaware of) - I see attacks at us.

Our comment was 'not' anti Muslim or any other race.

No country wishes to be completely taken over of their traditions.
For the record we have a 'very good’ working relationship with many of the Muslim Leaders.


Col hit the nail on the head when he said=
*I believe in the common treatment of all and that means one set of laws for one nation of people, not something which varies according to ethnicity or religion.* ( I second that)

Pericles,+ CJ, As stevenlmeyer said your not going to address this matter but don’t come at me with your silly rubbish.

The truth is there is a lot of unrest between certain Muslim people and Councils.
There are plenty of Muslims that are concerned about the more extreme Muslim wanting to take over let me assure you.

As for Sharia Law the truth is there are also many pushing to have it introduced here in Australia.

Weddings in Mosques is another example in Australia for a long time now do not comletlty follow our laws either.

Perhaps its largely ignored by our Government considering they changed British law almost twenty years ago.

In UK you do not have to follw British Law when it comes to marraige or divorse- and this is largely accepted here also.

There are some other examples as well- but abattoirs weddings and divorces are a few I that have already been pretty much accepted in Australia.


So Yes stevenlmeyer,it could happen in Australia and in fact to some degree it already has.

stevenlmeyer, on the whole I agree with you. It is unlikely that Sharia law would ever be introduced in this country, or indeed any enlightened Western country, but in the event that the Muslim community were to set up administrative tribunals of their own their decisions would have to be within the constraints of Australian law. Sharia law expressly provides for domestic violence. Having said that, Pericles, I don't know of any documented examples in Australia, but I do know of cases of "honour killings" in both Canada and Scotland (the perpetrators were prosecuted under the laws of those countries).

The quaint Islamic practices involved in polygamy FGM and divorce would never take off here either.

Arbitration conducted under Sharia law would, I'd suggest, disadvantage women by definition if nothing else, even if they were not too afraid to come forward.

I don't know where PALE gets its notion that the State governments gave permission for Sharia law to have force in abattoirs (halal is a religious custom, not Sharia law), and it would be interesting to see some evidence of that claim. I pointed out earlier that the contract/s provided by AQIS were to do with kosher meat, not halal (as reprehensible as they were/are). The review into slaughter practices and pre-stunning is yet to be concluded (although we should perhaps be asking why; this has gone on long enough).

As for getting married in Mosques, should we also ban Greek Orthodox weddings?

Nicky

Pericles asks "Which issues"

For the umpteenth time:

Should arbitration be an available option in cases of domestic violence?

Not merely arbitration before a sharia court. As I made clear, ANY form of arbitration.

I am especially uneasy about arbitration in domestic violence cases because there is a CRIMINAL element to it. When the state allows domestic violence cases to be dealt with through private arbitration it does, DE FACTO, cede some of its power to deal with violent criminals. That may not be the intention but that is what happens. I do not think the state should EVER cede power to deal with criminals to ANY private arbitration system.

You ask whether I can cite actual cases.

Because of my niece's profession I am aware of many cases of domestic violence. The appearance of a sympathetic representative from greater civil society with real power has been a lifeline for many women. This applies especially for women in minority groups.

Note "minorities" is NOT confined to Muslims.

That is the issue you are not addressing.

While I consider attacks on Islam, or any other belief system, to be entirely legitimate, I have not attacked Islam on this thread. Others have; but I have not.

In the end this is NOT about Islam or sharia. It is about the powers that should be granted to arbitrators.