<i>Sharia</i> Courts: Modern Practice and Prospectives in Russia

Abstract

This article touches on the fundamental principles of Sharia judiciary, the modern practice of Sharia court activity in Muslim and Western countries and their establishment and functioning in Russia. The place which Sharia courts occupied in the judicial system of the Muslim state during middle ages, the general historical evolution of Sharia justice institutions and the role played by modern Sharia courts in Muslim countries, which depends on the place which Islamic Sharia occupies in their legal systems, are shown. The Sharia model of judiciary has been known in Western countries from the middle ages and today Sharia courts are still functioning in some of them. In Russia, Sharia institutions of dispute resolution were created in the 19th century. They existed in some forms until the end of the 1920s. After that, while they still existed, their decisions did not have any legal force. From the 1990s, Sharia courts began to re-emerge in Russia as religious or civil structures. Russian legislation provides the legal basis for establishing Sharia institutions of dispute resolution in the form of arbitration courts or mediation structures. Such institutions can be an alternative to illegal Sharia courts, and they could assist securing legal fundamentals and values within the Russian Muslim community.