Giurisdizione religiosa: la questione islamica in Canada e Stati Uniti

Religious jurisdiction: the islamic issue in Canada and the U.S.

Abstract

Contemporary
legal systems, specially in recent decades, have had to face challenges and issues posed by an upcoming, to a certain extent totally new, pluralism: ethnic, cultural, and religious. One of the most important challenges is represented by the identification of legal solutions aiming at overcoming the conflicts arising from such complexity, in order to ensure the protection of individual and group rights as well as the fulfilment of expectations of minorities in matters of respect of their multiple identities. The question arises Western legal system namely with reference to the Shari’a and its diffusion as a juridical framework, addressing the members of Muslim communities, parallel to Western laicist orders, in view of finding solutions to juridical controversies according to the dictates of Islamic law. The essay examines two very significant experiences: the religious arbitration in Canada and United States, that show a possible way of integration of Muslim minority in the West.
Keywords: Shari’a Courts; Foundamental rights; Legal pluralism; Religious jurisdiction; Canada; United States.