Ontario leader rejects use of Islamic law News
Ontario leader rejects use of Islamic law

[JURIST] Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty [official profile] told the Canadian Press Sunday that he will not let his province use Shariah (Islamic law) [Wikipedia backgrounder] to settle family disputes involving Muslims, such as divorce and child custody issues. A 2004 Ontario government report [PDF text] discussed the possibility of applying Islamic law to the settlement of family disputes, and the proposal led to widespread protesting in Ontario and at European diplomatic sites [JURIST report] Thursday. McGuinty said he will move to ban religious arbitration in its entirety and that "[t]here will be one law for all Ontarians." Ontario has permitted both Catholic and Jewish faith-based tribunals to settle family law disputes since 1991. The Shariah report has brought this issue into the spotlight, however, and officials have made the choice to exclude all religious arbitration in family disputes. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

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