Archbishop backs Islamic law
Updated on 07 February 2008
The Archbishop of Canterbury controversially said tonight it was unavoidable that Britain would adopt aspects of Islamic sharia law.
Dr Rowan Williams said he believed there was a place for finding a "constructive accommodation" in areas such as marriage - allowing Muslim women to avoid western divorce proceedings.
But the reaction to his comments ranged from "unhelpful" from the Conservatives, to an insistence by Downing Street that "the prime minister believes British law should apply in this country, based on British values".
The Archbishop of Canterbury has never made any secret of his desire for more understanding between Christians and Muslims.
There is no suggestion in the Archbishop of Canterbury's speech that this call for more tolerance of religious laws included criminal proceedings.
Last year he launched a forum to promote this. But tonight he strayed into more controversial territory, calling for more tolerance of religious law, in particular Islamic sharia law.
At a lecture at the Royal Courts of Justice Dr Rowan Williams said it can apply to other religions - Judaism for instance.
Speaking earlier on the BBC's World at One he said it seems unavoidable. That there was a place for finding a constructive accommodation in areas such as marriage, like allowing Muslim women to avoid western divorce proceedings.
Dr Williams said Orthodox Jewish courts - the Beth Din - already operated in the UK. And he pointed to recent controversies such as whether Catholic adoption agencies would be allowed to opt out of new equality laws accepting gay parents.
The Muslim Council of Britain welcomed the dialogue and said it would be appropriate in marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody.
There is currently an Islamic Sharia Council in the UK, used for the settlement of disputes, mainly matrimonial, with the majority brought by women seeking a divorce from their husbands. It involves arbitration but has no legal standing.
There is no suggestion in the Archbishop of Canterbury's speech that this call for more tolerance of religious laws included criminal proceedings.
But critics said this was still opening a door too far.
And the government response was muted. Downing Sreet saying concessions could be made in specific instances such as the relaxation of the law on stamp duty to avoid it being paid twice for sharia compliant mortgages.
This comes just months after one of Dr Williams' own bishops became mired in controversy for claiming that there were no go areas in the UK for Christians created by Muslim extremists.
But the Archbishop of Canterbury said this evening people needed to look at Islamic law with a clear eye, adding nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that has sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states - specifically the extremism punishments and attitudes to women.
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