Sharia courts operate in Britain in the shadows. Little is known about them or their rulings or how extensive their network is or the reach of their jurisdiction.

A report this week sheds some light. It reveals that there are not just the main five generally acknowledged to exist — in London, Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham and Nuneaton — there are another 85 operating largely out of mosques.

It also concludes that such courts, or tribunals, are handing down rulings that are likely to breach fundamental principles of British law and it urges the removal of their formal statutory recognition under the Arbitration Act 1996.

Sharia Law or ‘One law for all’? comes from Civitas, the independent think-tank. David Green, its director, says in an introduction to the report: “It cannot be accepted that Sharia councils are nothing more than independent arbitrators guided by faith.

“The reality is that for many Muslims, Sharia courts are part of an institutionalised atmosphere of intimidation backed by the ultimate sanction of a death threat.” He adds: “The underlying problem is that Sharia reflects male-dominated Asian and Arabic cultures.

“It cannot therefore be accepted as a legally valid basis even for settling private disagreements in a country like ours where law embodies the equal legal status of everyone, regardless of race, gender or religion.”

Sharia courts are likely to be handing down decisions on matters such as marriage and divorce, custody of children and maintenance, the report finds, but many conflict with UK legal norms, Western liberal principles and human rights law.

The actual rulings of the tribunals are hard to come by so the report examines the fatwas, or edicts, put out on popular online fatwa sites by religious leaders or muftis, which, it says, give a good indication of the rulings of the Sharia courts.

It concludes that these “walk a very fine line between legality and illegality”, adding: “If put into practice, they would undermine UK law by allowing a single community to play fast and loose with British law and customs.

“They are divisive, many of them are discriminatory against women and non-Muslims, and they deeply undermine the freedoms that all British citizens are entitled to enjoy.” Some “advise illegal actions” and others “transgress human rights standards as they are applied by British courts”.

Examples include: a Muslim woman should not have fertility treatment; may not under any circumstances marry a non-Muslim man unless he converts to Islam; may be coerced by her husband to have sex; polygamous marriage (two to four wives) is legal; a man may divorce his wife without telling her about it, provided he does not seek to sleep with her.

Others are: Sharia must override the judgments of British courts; taking up residence in a non-Muslim country except for limited reasons is forbidden; a Muslim lawyer has to act contrary to UK law where it contradicts Sharia; and a woman, who is restricted in leaving her home and driving a car, cannot marry anyone she chooses.

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