From Standard Chartered Bank v. Ahmad Hamad AL Gosaibi and Bros. Co., 2014 WL 96219 (N.Y. trial ct. Jan. 10, 2014): Defendants assert that they have standing to move to quash the instant subpoenas on the ground that the subpoenas seek all contracts between Pepsi and the defendants, documents which, they claim, include confidential proprietary […]
Archive | Islamic Law in the American Legal System
Foreigners and Foreign Law in American Courts: A Concrete Example
By Eugene Volokh on June 17, 2013 5:06 pm in Cultural Defenses, Islamic Law in the American Legal System
Why should foreign law ever be applied in American courts?, some people ask. Why should foreigners get the benefit of this law when they come to America? There are many answers to this, but I thought I’d offer a helpful illustration. The broad point is that, when American courts apply foreign law, they apply it […]
Foreign Child Custody Disputes Involving People Coming from Countries That Apply Islamic Family Law
By Eugene Volokh on June 14, 2013 12:20 pm in Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Parental Rights
I blogged about Souratgar v. Fair when the district court decision came down, but now there’s a Second Circuit opinion. Here are the key facts: The boy at the center of this case, now four-year-old Shayan, was born in Singapore in January 2009 to [Lee Jen Fair] and [Abdollah Naghash] Souratgar, who are both residents […]
Foreign Child Custody Disputes Involving People Coming from Countries That Apply Islamic Family Law
By Eugene Volokh on December 30, 2012 2:36 pm in International Law, Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Parental Rights
From Souratgar v. Fair (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 26, 2012): Petitioner Abdollah Naghash Souratgar, an Iranian citizen, petitions this Court for the return of his son, Shayan, to Singapore. Shayan, who will soon be four years old, was born in Singapore and has Malaysian citizenship. Shayan’s mother, respondent Lee Jen Fair, a Malaysian citizen, left Singapore with […]
American Court Enforces United Arab Emirates Divorce, Mahr, and Child Custody Judgment
By Eugene Volokh on October 8, 2012 5:03 pm in Child Custody and Constitutional Law, Islamic Law in the American Legal System
An interesting case, S.B. v. W.A. (N.Y. trial court Sept. 26, 2012). A quick and oversimplified summary: 1. In 1998, S.B., an American professional woman, married W.A., an Egyptian immigrant who eventually became an architect. They lived until 2006 in America, where their two children were born. They then moved to the United Arab Emirates, […]
Court Refuses to Enforce Islamic Premarital Agreement That Promised Wife $677,000 in the Event of Divorce
Soleimani v. Soleimani (Kan. Dist. Ct., Johnson Cty., No. 11CV4668, Aug. 28, 2012) is a very interesting decision on enforcing Muslim premarital agreements in American courts. (For more interesting recent cases on this, see here and here.) The decision is long and detailed, and I can’t do it full justice, but here are some excerpts. […]
“American Law for American Courts” and Foreign Divorce Decrees
I blogged below about the “American Law for American Courts” proposal, and its possible effect on foreign judgments entered without a civil jury trial. Here, I wanted to flag a possible problem with this proposal and foreign divorce decrees. American courts routinely have to decide the marital status of people who came to America from […]
“American Laws for American Courts” and Civil Jury Trials
I’ve blogged quite a bit about why broad bans on the use of foreign law in American courts are improper. But what about narrower limitations, such as the American Laws for American Courts proposal that has been enacted in some form in Arizona, Louisiana, and Tennessee? I think that particular proposal is less problematic, and […]
But What If Foreign Law Is Very Bad?
Whenever I blog about why American courts often should consider foreign law — as in the recent Pakistani Law in U.S. Courts thread — some commenters ask: What if the foreign law is very bad? What if it’s sexist, for instance if it treats men and women differently in issuing divorce decrees? What if it […]
Pakistani Law in U.S. Courts
By Eugene Volokh on August 15, 2012 7:18 pm in Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Religion and the Law
In past discussions, especially about the Oklahoma foreign law ban and about similar proposals in other states, some people have questioned why American courts would want to look at foreign law. Yesterday’s Naseer v. Moghal (Va. Ct. App. Aug. 14, 2012) offers an excellent example. The facts: On August 1, 2000, wife [Tahira Naseer] married […]
Court Rejects Claim that AIG’s Use of Sharia-Compliant Financing Violates the Establishment Clause
By Eugene Volokh on January 14, 2011 3:53 pm in Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Religion and the Law
The opinion is Murray v. Geithner (E.D. Mich., decided today). I think the result is quite right, for reasons I mentioned when the lawsuit was first filed, and when the court rejected the government’s motion to dismiss. Here’s my reasoning from the latter of those posts (though it’s not quite the reasoning given by the […]
May American Court Appoint Only Muslim Arbitrators, Pursuant to an Arbitration Agreement?
By Eugene Volokh on January 3, 2011 9:30 am in Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Religion and the Law
That’s the issue lurking in In re Aramco Servs. Co., now on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. DynCorp and Aramco Services (both of which were at the time Delaware corporations headquartered in Houston, though Aramco Services is a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, the Saudi government’s oil company) signed an agreement under which DynCorp was […]
“[A] Muslim Boy [Allegedly] Got a Stiffer Sentence Because of the Fact That [His] Offense [Was Committed] During … Ramadan[]”
By Eugene Volokh on December 21, 2010 2:45 pm in Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Religion and the Law
In Pucci v. Nineteenth District Court (6th Cir. Dec. 16), plaintiff Julie Pucci was dismissed from her job as deputy court administrator. She alleges that she was dismissed partly in retaliation for her complaining about one judge’s “practice of interjecting his personal religious beliefs into judicial proceedings and the business of the court.” The judge […]
“Department of Justice Enforces the Sharia: Sues Illinois School District for Muslim Teacher Hajj”
By Eugene Volokh on December 14, 2010 2:02 pm in Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Religion and the Law
So reads an Atlas Shrugs headline, discussing this Justice Department press release: The Justice Department today announced it has filed a lawsuit against Berkeley School District, Berkeley, Ill., alleging that the school district violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of Safoorah Khan, a […]
“Should Western Democracies Build Barriers to Sharia Law?”
By Eugene Volokh on December 11, 2010 12:25 pm in Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Religion and the Law
That’s the title of a Western Word Radio online radio program, which will be streaming live from 1:30 to 3:30 pm Eastern tomorrow (Sunday, December 12), and will available on the site after that. The details are available here, but the short summary is that the panel seems to be large and quite balanced: Eugene […]