(continued from above) The sudden public interest -...

(continued from above) The sudden public interest - news of the group's plans has made headlines in Canada - has surprised some Muslims who say they already used sharia in divorce arbitration and other disputes. The institute, which has about 50 members, said it wants to formalise that process.
Ontario and other Canadian provinces have long allowed the use of arbitrators in civil disputes, whether religious or not. A similar system of dispute resolution already exists in the Jewish community where a couple who obtain a divorce from a rabbi can have it recognised by the courts. Other religious matters can be taken before rabbinical courts.
"In truly multicultural countries, this is quite common," said Ed Morgan, a law professor at the University of Toronto.
"It's a legitimate way to give religious communities some autonomy within the scope of our law. The two can exist because the Canadian courts have an ultimate supervisory capacity."
The federal government has said it "had no position" on the issue as provinces set laws on property and civil rights in their own jurisdictions as long as they do not breach the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the country's supreme law. But that is not enough for critics, who oppose having Canadian courts and police, effectively, enforcing sharia.
"Nobody thinks the extreme sections of the sharia law will be carried out, like stoning people and cutting off hands," said the Humanist Association's Ayala. "But still, if Canada accepts this, it means it will give credibility to the sharia law around the world."