Wave G'Bye: Austrian Court Allows Use of Islamic Sharia Law in Private Contracts

In a controversial decision, an Austrian court has ruled Islamic law (Sharia) can be used for arbitration purposes in the European country if the contract parties agree on it.

In the case in question two men had signed a contract which mandated that in case of conflicts an arbitration tribunal would decide “based on Islamic law (Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaah) in accordance with equity in the matter to the best knowledge and belief.”

The term Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaah denotes the Sunni Islamic community.

After a conflict between the two men arose the arbitration tribunal decided against the plaintiff and required him to pay €320,000. The plaintiff then brought suit before the Vienna Regional Court for Civil Matters. He argued that the application of the Islamic law was arbitrary as scholars interpreted Sharia law differently. Furthermore, invoking Sharia law violated the fundamental values of Austrian law.