Ontario Muslims Should Be Allowed to Use Shari'ah Law for Civil Disputes, Report Says

December 20, 2004

Source: Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=a6.T40jg8aFk&refer=canad

On December 20, 2004 Bloomberg reported, "Ontario Muslims should be able use the code of law based on the Koran, or Shariah, to settle civil disputes if all parties involved agree, a report commissioned by the provincial government said. 'Arbitration is a private action because there is no state compulsion to arbitrate,' former Ontario Attorney General Marion Boyd wrote in the report, which was published on the government's Web site. 'Muslims in Ontario retain, as do all Ontarians, the right to choose the traditional justice system or any alternative to it for the resolution of their disputes.' Some groups, such as the Muslim Canadian Congress and the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, say they oppose religiously based arbitration in family issues like child custody or division of property because Shariah favors men over women and they're not seen as equals."