European Court of Human Rights on Shariah Law: Difference between revisions

The '''European Court of Human Rights''' (ECtHR; French: ''Cour européenne des droits de l’homme'') is an international court established on January 21, 1959 by the European Convention on Human Rights. It hears applications alleging that a contracting state has breached one or more of the human rights provisions concerning civil and political rights set out in the Convention and its protocols. The Convention was adopted by the Council of Europe, and all of its 46 member states are signatories to the Convention. The Court is based in Strasbourg, France.

With the banning of Turkey's Islamist Welfare Party (''Refah Partisi'', RP) and a ban on its leaders sitting in Parliament or holding certain other political offices for five years, the European Court of Human Rights determined on July 31, 2001, that "the institution of Sharia law and a theocratic regime, were incompatible with the requirements of a democratic society." The Court held that the sanctions imposed on the applicants could reasonably be considered to meet a pressing social need for the protection of democratic society, since "on the pretext of giving a different meaning to the principle of secularism, the leaders of the Refah Partisi had declared their intention to establish a plurality of legal systems based on differences in religious belief, to institute Islamic law (the Sharia), a system of law that was in marked contrast to the values embodied in the Convention."<ref name="ECtHR2001">[{{Reference archive|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20010811161803/http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/Press/2001/July/RefahPartisi2001jude.htm|2=2013-09-14}} ECtHR Judgment in the case of Refah Partisi (The Welfare Party) Erbakan, Kazan and Tekdal v Turkey] (Press Release 31.7.2001; Judgment 31.7.2001)</ref>

The ban was upheld by the ECtHR on February 13, 2003. Noting that the Welfare Party had pledged to set up a regime based on the [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|Shari'ah]], the Court found that "a sharia-based regime was incompatible with the Convention, in particular, as regards the rules of criminal law and procedure, the place given to women in the legal order and its interference in all spheres of private and public life in accordance with religious precepts."<ref name="ECtHR2003a">European Court of Human Rights, [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Annual_report_2003_ENG.pdf|2=2013-09-14}} "Annual Report 2003"], (2004) pp. 5-6.</ref> It further opined that "sharia, which faithfully reflects the dogmas and divine rules laid down by religion, is stable and invariable."<ref name="ECtHR2003">European Court of Human Rights, [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Annual_report_2003_ENG.pdf|2=2013-09-14}} "Annual Report 2003"], (2004) p. 21.</ref>