https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/31/the-world-is-getting-its-first-sikh-court-in-london-but-this-is-why-we-need-to-pay-close-attention-to-itThe world is getting its first Sikh court in London. That’s a threat to women’s rights
On 1 June 2024, the world’s first Sikh court will open in London. This demands our urgent attention. For many years, I – as the co-director of Project Resist, and the former director of Southall Black Sisters – along with groups such as One Law for All have campaigned against the growth of religious courts because we believe they are tied to a wave of religious fundamentalism targeting the rights and freedoms of women.
In 2015, we organised against the establishment of sharia councils and the Muslim arbitration tribunal, which followed the model of Jewish Beth Din courts, because of the threat they posed to our secular legal system. Our concern was that other minority religions would insist their own legal rules and orders be similarly accommodated by the state. It has not taken long for our fear to become a reality.
The Sikh court was set up ostensibly to counter the supposed lack of expertise in secular courts in understanding cultural and religious sensibilities around resolving family and civil disputes. Composed of about 30 magistrates and 15 judges – many of whom are women – the court will use a combination of mediation and arbitration to preside over family and civil disputes in the Sikh community. Judges, of course, are supposed to be impartial, but these judges will adjudicate in accordance with Sikh principles that they have defined.
But there has been no transparent and democratic debate or public consultation on the need for such a court – particularly with Sikh women – or on what constitute Sikh principles.
