Natasha Percy
February 8th, 2008

Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth says the Sydney Diocese rejects the Archbishop of Canterbury’s suggestion integrating Sharia law with British legal systems would deliver greater social cohesion.

“We do not agree with the Archbishop’s comments,” Bishop Forsyth says, as the spokesman for the Sydney Diocese on this issue.

“In the case of Australia, we are thankful for freedom of religion, but would oppose the idea of different systems of law for different people groups.”

Bishop Forsyth adds that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s suggestion – adopting parts of Sharia law in the British legal system – is not the best way to maintain social cohesion.

“There is no point in creating legal no-go zones. We don’t want the ‘ghetto-isation of our laws’,” he says.

“A free society with freedom of religion and one law for everyone is the best way of creating harmony for all people.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury made the comments on British radio program ‘World at One’, asserting that some citizens found it difficult to relate to the British legal system, and that Muslims should have the choice to have marital or financial matters resolved by a Sharia court.

“That principle that there is only one law for everybody is an important pillar of our social identity as a western democracy,” Archbishop Williams said.

“But I think it is a misunderstanding to suppose that means people don’t have other affiliations, other loyalties which shape and dictate how they behave in society and that the law needs to take some account of that.”

Archbishop Williams’ proposal has reportedly been rejected by Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has said: “British law should apply in this country, based on British values”.