Stephen Pollard recently raised alarm bells about the use of Sharia courts in England which apply Islamic law over the law of the land. There were some false reports that Sharia courts had been created in five English cities, where rulings would be treated the same as those in the traditional judicial system.

But there are provisions for voluntary Sharia jurisdiction. That can be a cause for concern, Pollard writes:

"If two parties agree to be bound by an arbitrator - a Sharia court, for instance - that is their business. But what if community pressure forces their acceptance? In one recent inheritance dispute Sharia judges gave the sons twice as much as the daughters. In English law, the shares would have been equal. We do not know what pressures were put on the women to accept the ruling. Peer pressure can be overpowering. And the very point of Western freedoms is to protect people against such unjust pressures."

He cites a half-dozen cases of domestic violence handled by Sharia courts. The victims withdrew their police complaints and the perpetrator was ordered to take anger management classes. The situation, Pollard writes, is subject to tremendous peer pressure to stay out of regular courts.