Sharia Law in the UK?

There is an interesting article on Sharia courts in the United Kingdom, in today's New York Times. The article demonstrates the contemporary nature of the courts.

These courts are not a hark back to tradition:

Islamic courts, for example, promote therapy culture: 'Critics also point to cases of domestic violence in which Islamic scholars have tried to keep marriages together by ordering husbands to take classes in anger management, leaving the wives so intimidated that they have withdrawn their complaints from the police'.

The courts allow women an alternative route to divorce: 'Almost all of the cases involve women asking for divorce, and through word of mouth and an ambitious use of the Internet, courts... have become magnets for Muslim women seeking to escape loveless marriages — not only from Britain but sometimes also from Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany.'

There is little evidence of a feared British 'Taliban' justice system: 'The tribunals stay away from criminal cases that might call for the imposition of punishments like lashing or stoning.'

The informal nature of the courts, the link to therapy culture and other features makes them look like they have more in common with the, often lauded, moves to community restorative justice programmes and other forms of judicial practice which are at the experimental end of the British criminal justice system.