Customary Law, Religion and Legal Pluralism in Israel: Islamic Law and Shari'a Courts in Constant Motion

Revista General de Derecho Público Comparado 26 (2019)

19 Pages Posted: 3 Feb 2020

See all articles by Kyriaki Topidi

Kyriaki Topidi

European Centre for Minority Issues; Institute of Law and Religion /Faculty of Law

Date Written: December 13, 2019

Abstract

Similar to the colonial reality, some States maintain a compartmentalized arrangement of their societies, where religious groups are subjected to communal laws that form part of the ‘official’ State legal system. These same States endorse these ‘parallel’ legal systems as a means to keep control over competing communities. Israel is one of these States. Ethno-religious communities in Israel are for the most equipped with their own communal courts, where communal judges sit. Any attempted reforms in personal status law are tainted in the Israeli context by the majority versus minority cleavage between Jews and Arabs. The focus of this paper is therefore to explore how, within a state-endorsed pluralist legal framework, minority religious systems evolve, navigate and reform, emphasizing the role played by actors in the judicial process, in particular judges (qadis) sitting in shari’a courts and adjudicating on family law cases.

Keywords: Islamic law, minority, shari'a courts, Israel, legal pluralism, customary law

Suggested Citation

Topidi, Kyriaki, Customary Law, Religion and Legal Pluralism in Israel: Islamic Law and Shari'a Courts in Constant Motion (December 13, 2019). Revista General de Derecho Público Comparado 26 (2019), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3517208

Kyriaki Topidi (Contact Author)

European Centre for Minority Issues ( email )

Schiffbrücke 12 ⋅ D-24939
Flensburg, 24937
Germany

Institute of Law and Religion /Faculty of Law ( email )

Avenue de l'Europe 20
CH-1700 Fribourg
Switzerland

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