On 19 December, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights made a ruling concerning the application of Sharia law in Europe over inheritance rights.
The court ruled that a Greek woman should have her inheritance dispute settled by Greek domestic law rather than by Sharia law. The application of Sharia law to this case was found to be in violation of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights which prohibits discrimination on grounds including sex, race and religion. The court noted that ‘several international bodies’ had expressed concern about the application of Sharia law and the discrimination created, in particular against women and children.
Sharia compatible?
In 2003, Strasbourg judges ruled that ‘Sharia is incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy’ and with the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights1. But this was not reiterated in this case.
Greece, historically part of the Ottoman Empire, had Sharia enshrined in law in Western Thrace (eastern Greece). Since the treaties of Sèvres (1920) and Lausanne (1923), which regulated the fate of ‘minorities’ in Turkey and Greece, Greek courts have held that Sharia law must apply to all members of the Muslim community of Thrace, in matters of marriage, divorce and succession.
Optional?
Unsurprisingly, the European Court condemned forced application of Sharia, but not Sharia law itself. The Court ruled that the compulsory application of Sharia law on Muslims was discriminatory compared to a non-Muslim Greek testator. Greece had anticipated this decision by making the use of Sharia law optional in a 2018 law.
Parallel legal system
More interestingly, and unnoticed by the press, the European Court took advantage of this case to lay down its general conditions for the application of religious norms, such as Sharia law, in Europe.
The Court considers that a state is not obliged, but can, if it so desires, create a ‘particular legal framework in order to grant religious communities a special status entailing specific privileges’. In other words, a European state can grant its Muslim community the freedom to be governed by Sharia norms, without this being in itself contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. Two conditions are laid down as to such a special status: the respect of the will of the interested parties, and the ‘important public interest’.
