The Incompatibility of the Sharia Law and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam with the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

The Resolution 2253 (2019) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe deals with the question if the Sharia law (“Islamic law”) and the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam are compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. This question was raised within the context of the endorsement of the Cairo Declaration by three member states of the Council of Europe, states that also ratified the European Convention upon their accession to the Council of Europe (Albania, Azerbaijan, Turkey). The same question is relevant also for Russia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also for Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco and Palestine, whose parliaments enjoy partner for democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The European Court of Human Rights (the Grand Chamber) had already in 2003 the opportunity to give an answer to the above mentioned question: it “concurs in the Chamber’s view that Sharia is incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy, as set forth in the Convention.” Based on its own assessment and a comprehensive report adopted by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, the Strasbourg Parliamentary Assembly concludes on the topic that “the various Islamic declarations on human rights..., while being more religious than legal, fail to reconcile Islam with universal human rights, especially insofar as they maintain the Sharia law as their unique source of reference. That includes the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam…” This study focuses on the analysis of the Assembly’s report and resolution and also on country specific recommendations.