The Archbishop of Canterbury has provoked a storm of criticism by saying that Britain will have to adopt elements of Islamic Sharia law. (Sky News Friday 8th February 2008)Dr Rowan Williams said there was a place for finding a "constructive accommodation" in areas such as marriage, which could allow Muslim women to avoid western divorce proceedings.
But his comments have been attacked by Christian and secular groups and a spokesman for Gordon Brown insisted British law would be based on British values, and sharia law would be no justification for acting against national law.
Dr Williams told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "It seems unavoidable and, as a matter of fact, certain conditions of Sharia are already recognised in our society and under our law, so it is not as if we are bringing in an alien and rival system. We already have in this country a number of situations in which the internal law of religious communities is recognised by the law of the land as justifying conscientious objections in certain circumstance. There are ways of looking at marital disputes, for example, which provide an alternative to the divorce courts as we understand them."
But a spokesman for Mr Brown said: "Sharia law cannot be used as a justification for committing breaches of English law, nor should the principles of sharia law be included in a civil court for resolving contractual disputes.
"If there are specific instances like stamp duty, where changes can be made in a way that's consistent with British law and British values, in a way to accommodate the values of fundamental Muslims, that is something the Government would look at."
