Today in the House of Lords, Baroness Cox (Crossbench) asked Her Majesty’s Government “what progress they have made in implementing the recommendations of the independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales published in February 2018 (Cm 9560), in order to protect Muslim women, and what assessment they have made of Resolution 2253 (2019) by the Council of Europe that all Islamic marriages should also be registered as civil marriages.”

The Advocate-General for Scotland (Lord Keen of Elie) (Con) replied that further work on the issues raised had begun in the spring, as announced in the Integrated Communities Action Plan:

“This work will explore reform possibilities in relation to the issue that some people may marry in a way that does not create a legally recognised marriage. This exploration will be conducted independently of the wider Law Commission review of marriage ceremony law.” Continue reading →