Muslim Family Law in Western Courts

This book focuses on how Islamic family law is interpreted and applied by judges in Europe, in Australia and North America. Covering a wide number of countries, it uses court transcriptions and observations to discuss a number of issues, including how the most contentious marriage-related issues - consent and age of spouses, mahr, polygamy, divorce, and kafalah - are adjudicated. The solutions proposed by different legal systems are reviewed, and some broader questions are addressed: how Islamic principles are harmonized with norms based on gender equality, how parties bargain strategically, and how Muslim diasporas align their Islamic worldview with a Western normative narrative.

Auteur

Elisa Giunchi is an Assistant Professor of History and Institutions of Muslim Countries at the University of Milan, Italy.

Résumé
This book focuses on Islamic family law as interpreted and applied by judges in Europe, Australia and North America. It uses court transcriptions and observations to discuss how the most contentious marriage-related issues - consent and age of spouses, dower, polygamy, and divorce - are adjudicated. The solutions proposed by different legal systems are reviewed , and some broader questions are addressed: how Islamic principles are harmonized with norms based on gender equality, how parties bargain strategically in and out of court, and how Muslim diasporas align their Islamic worldview with a Western normative narrative.

Contenu

Preface 1. Muslim Family Law and Legal Practice in the West: An Introduction 2. Shari'a in the West: Colonial Consciousness in a Context of Normative Competition 3. Please Divorce Me! Subversive Agency, Resistance and Gendered Religious Scripts 4. Judicial Encounters with Islamic and Middle Eastern Family Law in Switzerland from a Private International Law Perspective - Marriage and Divorce 5. The Recognition of Transnational Muslim Marriages and Divorces by Norwegian Courts and Other Competent Authorities: Dynamics Between Legislation and Legal Practice 6. Islamic Family Law in the Courts: Spain's Position with Regard to the Moroccan Family Code 7. An Analysis of British Judicial Treatment of Islamic Divorces, 1997 - 2009 8. Can there be a Compromise? Australia's State of Confusion Regarding Shari'a Family Law 9. Islamic Family Law in American Courts: A Rich, Diverse and Evolving Jurisprudence