Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s report entitled The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales of February 2018, if she will take steps to conduct an assessment into the number of sharia councils operating in the UK.

The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales was published under the 2016 to 2018 May Conservative government.

The Government is clear: Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales. Regardless of religious belief, we are all equal before the law. The Government has no intention of changing this position.

Religious communities, including Muslim communities, can operate arbitration councils and boards which seek to resolve disputes. The overriding principle is that they must operate within the rule of law.

The Government doesn’t prevent individuals from seeking to regulate their lives through religious beliefs and nothing in law prevents people abiding by Sharia principles, provided their actions don’t conflict with the law. If they do, rule of law prevails.

The decisions of Sharia councils are not binding in law – they are not part of the court system in this country.