SHARIAsource

The Court affirmed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, granting summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff, Jerry Charles, who alleged a violation of his rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) to practice his religion. Specifically, the plaintiff requested accommodations that would allow him to have prayer oil, which he contended was a necessary part of his religious practice. The Department of Corrections challenged RLUIPA as unconstitutional, but the Court upheld the constitutionality of the statute.

(Translation by Seyed Bahman Khodadadi)

Islamic Republic of Iran
Judiciary
Supreme Court of the Country
General Administration of Uniformity of Judicial Decisions and Publication of Deliberations and Opinions of the General Board

Subject: Decision of the Unity of Procedure of the General Board of the Supreme Court
Opinion Number: 835

With the enactment of the Islamic Penal Law (1375) and the subsequent dissolution of public and revolutionary courts from [Iran's] judicial system, the responsibility for conducting preliminary investigations was assigned to the courts. Consequently, the reference to the "Prosecutor's Office" in Article 650 of the aforementioned law concerning perjury has become obsolete.

Following the re-establishment of the Prosecutor's Offices, Article 322 of the Criminal Procedure Law, approved in 1392, along with Article 209 of the same law, explicitly addresses the punishment for perjury, establishing a legal obligation for investigators regarding witness testimony. This provision emphasizes the necessity of enforcing penalties for violations committed by witnesses, thereby underscoring the duty of investigators to interpret the law with the intent of uncovering the legislative purpose.

Accordingly, the punishment prescribed for perjury occurring during the preliminary investigation phase, prior to the involvement of the Prosecutor's Office, remains subject to Article 650 of the Islamic Penal Code (Penalties). Therefore, the decision rendered by the 13th Branch of the Alborz Court of Appeal, which aligns with this opinion, is recognized as correct and lawful by the majority of votes. This decision is binding for the branches of the Supreme Court, as well as all other judicial and non-judicial authorities, pursuant to Article 471 of the Criminal Procedure Law, approved in 1392, along with subsequent amendments and additions in similar cases.

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the State of Qatar (Dawlat Qatar), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Qatar's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) is a primary source of legislation. 

The plaintiffs, the surviving family members and the estate of an American citizen who was assassinated, allegedly by Hezbollah, while serving as the president of the American University of Beirut, brought a wrongful death action against Iran. They sued under the state-sponsored terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (allowing sovereign states that financially sponsor terrorism to be sued), alleging that Iran should be liable for providing financial support to Hezbollah. Iran did not file an answer to the charge. The Court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding compensatory damages in the amount of $31,525,296 to the family for economic loss as well as mental anguish.

Muslim inmate John McGlothlin brought a case under §1983, alleging that the prison chaplain and other prison officials violated his right to free exercise under the First Amendment. The plaintiff claimed that Muslim inmates were treated differently from fellow inmates of other religious beliefs, exemplified by comparing the announcements on the bulletin board for Muslims with one run by the Christian Fellowship. A report by the U.S. Magistrate recommended that this case should be dismissed, and the District Court agreed. Specifically, the Court found that the plaintiff’s claims against the prison’s non-denominational chaplain should be dismissed as the chaplain was not a state actor; it further dismissed the claims against the other officials because the plaintiff’s claims failed to demonstrate a disparity of treatment based on religion.

These materials include the results relating to gender of a perceptions survey carried out in three sharīʿa states in early 2016, which included questions on hisbah and women, zakat and gender issues, practices harmful to women, and education of girls and women. Also included is documentation of a number of public enlightenment and sensitization programs on women’s rights carried out in the sharīʿa states, and of the effect of sharīʿa implementation on the education of girls and women.

These materials are a part of The Nigeria Papers – a SHARIAsource Special Collection, compiled and edited by Independent Scholar Philip Ostien and others. 

The appellants sought to challenge Giri Menang Religious Court Decision No. 207 of 2013, which had ordered them to transfer to the respondents the respondents' share of the estate of Amaq and Inaq Sidin (deceased). The appellants based their appeal on several grounds:

1. that the respondents' initial claim had failed to include certain relevant parties in their claim, as was revealed by the evidence provided by certain witnesses, and that those relevant parties were then inserted into the claim by the lower court;
2. that the lower court's decision lacked a legal foundation, and that its decision had exceeded the parameters of the plaintiffs' claim;
3. that the lower court had erred in stipulating certain information relating to the dimensions of the land in dispute;
4. that the lower court had ignored documents submitted by the appellants regarding a certain portion of the land in dispute; and
5. that the lower court had included the incorrect boundaries of the land in dispute, in terms of a local inspection.

In dismissing the appeal, the court found that ground 1 was insufficient as the parties the appellants claimed had not been included were not beneficiaries (ahli waris) for the purposes of art 171(c) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, and moreover, those parties had not been joined as parties to the claim by the lower court. The court found that the appellants had failed to establish ground 2, but conceded the appellants were correct in regards to ground 3. The court held, however, that it could simply amend the clerical errors raised in ground 3. Finally, the court dismissed ground 4, stating it had been acknowledged in the lower court's decision.

This Supreme Court jurisprudence states that religious courts outside Java-Madura are authorised to make stipulations regarding Muslim inheritance and the beneficiaries thereof. With regards to the ownership of the house in dispute, however, it was determined that that was a matter for the state courts.

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Lao People's Democratic Republic/Laos (Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress Under Laos' Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Arab Republic of Egypt (Jumhuriyat Misr al Arabiyah), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Egypt's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) is the principal source of legislation. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Djibouti (Republique de Djibouti/Jumhuriyat Jibuti), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Djibouti's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Commonwealth of Australia, based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Australia’s Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status.

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the State of Kuwait (Dawlat al Kuwayt), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Kuwait's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) is a principle source of legislation. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Kingdom of Bahrain (Mamlakat al Bahrayn), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Bahrain’s Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has legal status, and is the principal source of legislation.

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea/North Korea (Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under North Korea's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Syrian Arab Republic (Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Syria's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has legal status. 

This fatwa forbids abortion from the moment the mother's uterus is implanted with a blastocyst. It does, however, permit abortion:

1. in the event of a medical emergency that threatens the mother's health or life;
2. if the foetus has a genetic deformity that will present future insurmountable problems for the child; or
3. the pregnancy was the result of rape, as confirmed by the victim's family, doctor, and ulama.

An abortion for the above reasons must be conducted before the foetus is 40 days old. Moreover, it must be conducted in a government-appointed health facility.

Chapters on nominate contracts (endowment, sales, options, barter/ mu‘āwaḍa, hire and lease, partnerships -shirka, muzāra‘a, musāqāt, muḍāraba-, reward/ju‘āla, deposit, fungible and non-fungible loan, agency, financial and personal guaranty, assignment, settlement, pledge, gift), shuf‘a, wills, inheritance, marriage and divorce, mahr, and alimony took almost all of its substance from prominent Shi’i fiqh treatises. Other chapters (classification of properties, easement, usufruct, general rules of obligations and contracts, nationality, registration of civil status, domicile, engagement, guardianship, and evidence) are mainly influenced by Swiss and French Civil Codes and Swiss Code of Obligations.