Clancy chairs IBA discussion on religion influence

Scottish canon lawyer predicts some incorporation of Islamic law in UK over time

News, 15 May 2008

A meeting of the International Bar Association will today debate the place of religious law in a secular system, including the place of Islamic law in the UK.

Chaired by Michael Clancy, Director of Law Reform at the Law Society of Scotland, the session in Amsterdam, part of the IBA's third annual bar leaders' conference, is entitled "Religious and secular laws: mutual respect or mutual suspicion?"

The conference will hear an expert on canon law from the Catholic Church in Scotland, Canon Gerard Tartaglia, predict that elements of Islamic law are likely to be incorporated into UK law over time.

Canon Tartaglia believes that Islamic law will have influence in the areas of financial transactions and marital mediation. This will, he claims, reflect society's multiculural nature and society would not adopt laws which would not be of benefit. Nor would the influence be a threat.

The two areas are those where the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, recently predicted that the adoption of elements of Islamic law seemed "unavoidable". Dr Williams' remarks caused controversy, but he claims he was misconstrued and did not expect Islamic law to take the place of the general law.

Mr Clancy said it was important to debate the effect of religion on legislation and the way that religious and secular laws interact.