Jewish groups considering challenge to Ontario ban on faith-based arbitration News
Jewish groups considering challenge to Ontario ban on faith-based arbitration

[JURIST] B'nai Brith Canada [advocacy website] officials said Tuesday that they are considering a constitutional challenge to the Ontario ban on rabbinical courts imposed by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty [official profile], arguing that the ban may limit freedom of religion. The premier ordered the ban on all faith-based arbitration [JURIST report] Sunday following his rejection of a government report [PDF text] that has discussed the possibility of creating courts to use Shariah (Islamic law) [Wikipedia backgrounder; CBC FAQ] to arbitrate family disputes between Ontario Muslims. The report led to widespread protests from rights groups [JURIST report; Globe and Mail report] and ultimately the premier's decision to ban all faith-based arbitration in Ontario, which had formally recognized religious tribunals for some faiths since 1991. B'nai Brith is joined by Muslim groups and the Canadian Jewish Congress [advocacy website] in its claim that the ban could limit religious freedom. Despite the ban, Mubin Sheikh of Toronto's Masjid-al-Noor mosque said he will still use Islamic law to mediate Muslim disputes. Sheikh argued that the ban "hurts the women who were supposed to be protected by not affording them official state sanction of the arbitrated settlement." UPI has more.