Excerpt:
On Thursday this week, Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe, advocate general at the European Court of Justice, issued an opinion saying that a divorce under Sharia law should not be recognized. The Munich lawyer Stephan Lorenz calls this "madness" as he believes that it prevents the possibility of analyzing its validity in individual cases. The ECJ judgment is still pending; however, judges often follow such recommendations.
Unjust method, good outcome
The case at hand involves a couple from Syria with German nationality. They married in 1999 in Homs, Syria, before eventually moving to Germany. Four years ago in a Syrian Sharia court, the husband ended the marriage by repeating the word "talaq" ("I divorce you") three times. Usually, only men are permitted to divorce a spouse in this way. Women rarely have the same right.