Religious Legal Systems in Comparative Law – A Guide to Introductory Research

By Marylin Johnson Raisch

Marylin Johnson Raisch served as the Associate Director for Research and Collection Development at the Georgetown Law Center until her 2021 retirement, and previously as the head of the library’s international and foreign law department. She received her J.D. from Tulane University School of Law. She holds degrees in English literature from Smith College and St. Hugh’s College, Oxford. She received her M.L.S. degree from Columbia University School of Library Service. Marylin is the author, co-author, or editor of several articles, reviews, and web guides on international and foreign legal research, including the current ASIL European Union Research Guide; the annual book and web surveys for the Journal of International Economic Law; Code and Hypertext: The Intertextuality of International and Comparative Law, 35 Syracuse J. Int’l L. & Com. 309 (2008), and chapters on UK Legal Research and UK implementation of EU law (in Legal Research Handbook [D.T. MacEllven], Neil A. Campbell and John N. Davis, eds., 6th ed., LexisNexis Canada, 2013). Marylin has served as moderator or panelist in several continuing education programs at the annual meetings of the American Association of Law Libraries and is a past Chair of its Foreign, International, and Comparative Law Special Interest Section, and is currently a co-chair of the International Legal Research Interest Group of the American Society of International Law.

Acknowledgments and Sources: Reynolds, Thomas H. and Arturo A. Flores. Foreign Law Guide: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California, 2000-[electronic format]; and HeinOnline, World Constitutions Illustrated [electronic resource].

Published July/August 2022

(Previously updated in July 2009, August 2013, and April 2017)

See the Archive Version!

Table of Contents

[Note: transliterations used are those found in the cited texts and are not consistent since even modern religious law relies frequently on ancient texts using older forms of language or modes of transliteration now common in scholarly references. The western Christian calendar is used for all dates with the awareness that each of these systems uses its own calendar; dates before the birth of Christ are designated B.C. and dates after that event bear no designation, since the Christian era neither denotes a commonly accepted divinity nor a common era].

1. Introduction

Religious law emanates from the sacred texts of religious traditions and in most cases purports to cover all aspects of life as a seamless part of devotional obligations to a transcendent, imminent, or deep philosophical reality, either personal or cosmological. Religion for law must be defined broadly, but its truth value needs not, and ought not, be addressed. Most religious law gradually came to apply in its most institutional form, and even then, only to its own organizations and to familial or contractual matters for its adherents. Application to ritual is a gray area but generally excluded from discussion and classification.

Religious law in this guide is seen as a branch of comparative law and legal study. Further, it is argued here that comparative law itself may most usefully be seen as part of the tradition of legal philosophy. Far from being wholly academic, however, comparative law is a practical approach in the service of 1) legal education 2) the appreciation of treaty implementation and 3) choice of law in the new world of public/private international law known as transnational law. At the conclusion of this guide to sources is a brief discussion of this approach to comparative law.

After the events of September 11, 2001, academic interest in Islamic law grew in an attempt both to understand the legal culture of mixed religious and secular systems and to explore ways to address issues arising in multicultural jurisdictions with greater understanding. It is clear that in areas of private law such as family law, inheritance, and in some commercial transactions, several religious systems influence secular law or constitute a regime which may or must be applied in those areas or to members of certain religious communities. Because sources for legal research in these areas are inter-disciplinary and often less known in the world of legal research, an overview of the major world systems is presented in this guide.

1.2. General Sources

  • Religion and the Law, a module from HeinOnline, contains a vast digitized library of canon law, Jewish law, Islamic law and old and new works on Hindu and Buddhist law as well as the history of religion and law (subscription required)
  • Religion Law Commons (BePress), open access academic articles on all religious law
  • Religlaw (research resources of International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
  • Internet Sacred Text Archive (older public domain texts)
  • Global Legal Monitor, Law Library of Congress (topic: “religious law” (updates developments in the laws of many jurisdictions); occasional posts in blog In Custodia Legis under “Global Law” category. Note: Forthcoming GLIN2 database of GLIN Foundation will aim to provide access to legislation. Regulations, and case law of participating countries.

1.2.1. Constitutions, Sources of Texts

Constitutional texts are essential for determining if religious law applies in certain legal systems and in what areas of law:

1.2.2. Comparative Law Treatises with Treatment of Religious Law

  • Årsheim, Helge and Pamela Slotte. The Juridification of Religion? Leiden: Brill, 2017.
  • Asal, Victor and Udi Sommer. Legal Path Dependence and the Long Arm of the Religious State: Sodomy Provisions and Gay Rights across Nations and over Time. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2016.
  • Berkmann, Burkhard Josef. The Internal Law of Religions: Introduction to a Comparative Discipline. Trans. of 2018 ed. David E. Orton. Abington UK and New York NY: Routledge, 2021.
  • Bottoni, Rossella, and Silvio Ferrari, eds. Routledge Handbook of Religious Laws. Abingdon UK and New York NY: Routledge, 2019.
    • Bussani, Mauro, ed. Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
    • Cohen, Jean and Cécile Laborde. Religion, Secularism, and Constitutional Democracy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.
    • David, Rene and John E.C. Brierley. Major Legal Systems in the World Today: An Introduction to the Comparative Study of Law. 3rd ed. London: Stevens, 1996.
  • Düwell, Marcus et al. The Cambridge Handbook of Human Dignity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014. (global religious perspectives on human rights)
  • Farrar, Salim and Ghena Krayem. Accommodating Muslims under Common Law: A Comparative Analysis. New York, NY: Routledge, 2017.
  • Glenn, H. Patrick Legal Traditions of the World: Sustainable Diversity in Law. 5th ed. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • International Association of Legal Science. International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck); New York: Oceana, 1973- 1985.
  • Menski, Werner. Comparative Law in a Global Context: The Legal Systems of Asia and Africa. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
  • Palmer, Vernon Valentine, Mohamed Y. Mattar and Anna Koppel, eds. Mixed Legal Systems, East and West. Farnham, Surrey, England; Burlington, VT, USA: Ashgate, 2015.
  • Rosenfeld, Michel and András Sajó, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2012.
  • Zweigert, Konrad, and Hein Kötz. Introduction to Comparative Law. 3rd rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

1.2.3. Comparative Law Journals, General and Religious Law Content

  • The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, [London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law]. 1952- .
  • International Journal of Constitutional Law: I•CON, [Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press], 2003-.
  • Journal of Church & State. [Waco, Tex.: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State, Baylor University]. 1959- .
  • The Journal of Comparative Law: JCL, [London: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill Pub.]. 2006-
  • Journal of Law and Religion. [Hamline University School of Law, and: Council on Religion and Law]. 1983- .
  • Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, Online ISSN 2047-0789. Currently freely available online with Oxford journals.

1.3. Classification

LC classification schedules for religious legal systems:

  • KB – comparative religious law
  • KBP – Islamic Law
  • KBM- Jewish law
  • KBR- for Canon Law
  • KBS – the Catholic Church and Modern Canon Law
  • KNS- Hindu Law.

For LC Subject Heading access, the above descriptors, adding only Buddhist law, work well either as actual broader term headings (which will require a limit with a term, say “women,” especially for Islamic law) or as keyword searches. For Confucian “law” it is necessary to use e.g., Philosophy, Confucian-[country name] or Confucian as a keyword with “ethics” or “law.”

Each religious system will be presented in two sections:

  • Essential facts
  • Basic sources and their descriptions: internet/electronic, books, articles and/or commentary.

1.5. Subject Headings: Books and Articles

Please note that for this guide, very few journal articles are listed. The monograph selection is intended to suggest further searches under the subject headings discussed above under “classification.” Articles are now available electronically through Google Books and Google Scholar and from within many academic and public catalogs enabling article discovery. Keyword searching in religious law should enable the researcher to 1) to demonstrate the existence of this narrower subject area in that literature, and 2) to exclude the wider and very numerous publications in legal anthropology, a closely related discipline which should be researched in a thorough scholarly exposition of the entire field.

2. Islamic Law

2.1. Essential Facts

According to the excellent outline provided by Irshad Abdal-Haqq in Islamic Law: An Overview of Its Origin and Elements, 7 J. Islamic L. & Culture 27 (2002) (Reprinted with author’s permission in the same journal from its first appearance in 1996), Islamic law might refer to all the law and jurisprudence of Islam and includes:

  • the primary sources of law (Shari’ah)

Shari’ah has two main sources:

  • the Qur’an and
  • the Sunnah (traditions of Muhammad ibn Abdullah, the last prophet of Islam), which means
  • the things he said, i.e., hadith,
  • the way he lived his life, his conduct

and,

(2) the subordinate sources of law and the methods used to discover and apply the law (Islamic jurisprudence or fiqh), described by Mr. Abdal-Haqq as follows:

“While the principles and injunctions of the Shari’ah are infallible and not subject to amendment, fiqh-based standards may change according to the circumstances.”

Four methods, often called sources of law by Muslim writers, for deducing and establishing fiqh-based law are universally recognized by Islamic jurists.

  • the extraction of Qur’anic injunctions and principles based on interpretations of it;
  • the application of the principles reflected through the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad;
  • the consensus of opinion from among the companions of Muhammad or the learned scholars (ijma);
  • analogical deduction

Nineteen schools of fiqh (fiqh madhhabs) developed during the first four centuries of Islam. By the fall of Baghdad (in 1258 C.E. to the Mongols, that is- not to be confused with modern events) the number of major madhhabs had dwindled to five (four Sunni and one Shia). At present, the four major schools of fiqh among the Sunni Muslims are: (1) Hanafi, (2) Maliki, (3) Shafi’i, and (4) Hanbali. Among the Shia, the Jafari School predominates.” (Abdal-Haqq, Islamic Law, supra at 36)

Judges also use individual judgment and reasoning, known as ijtihad (can include reasoning from analogy), but greatly varying over time. His excellent article goes on to distinguish each school or madhab by the relative importance each attaches to the authority of sources of law in on pages 67-75.

Finally, author Abdal-Haqq observes at pages 68-69, “Currently, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Iran stand alone as those countries that fully recognize the Shari’ah as the official law of the land. Qatar, the two Yemens, Kuwait and Bahrain also acknowledge Shari’ah principles but to a lesser degree. All other legal systems in the Muslim world are hybrids of Islamic and European law.”

See below under Implementation of Religious Law in Several Jurisdictions.

2.2. Basic Sources and Their Descriptions

2.2.1. Internet

2.2.2. Qur’an at Internet Sacred Text Archive, and Hadith (Older Translations in the Public Domain); Recent Books

  • Nu‘mn ibn Muammad, Ab anfah. The Disagreements of the Jurists: A Manual of Islamic Legal Theory Al-Q al-Nu‘mn; ed and trans. Devin J. Stewart; volume editor, Joseph E. Lowry. New York; London: New York University Press, 2015.
  • Abu-Odeh, Lama. Egypt’s New Constitution: The Islamist Difference, Constitutional Secularism in an Age of Religious Revival: The Challenges, (Oxford University Press forthcoming 2013).
  • Al-Azem, Talal. Rule-Formulation and Binding Precedent in the Madhhab-Law Tradition: Ibn Qualubugha’s Commentary on the Compendium of Quduri. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2016.
  • Ali, Shadeen Sardar. Modern Challenges to Islamic Law. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
  • Bhala, Raj. Understanding Islamic Law (Shar’a). Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2016.
  • Farrar, Salim and Ghena Krayem. Accommodating Muslims under Common Law: a Comparative Analysis. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2017.
    • Fadel, Mohammad H. Ed. Trans with Connell Monette of Malik b. Anas, Al-Muwaṭṭaʼ: the recension of Yaḥyā b. Yaḥyā al-Laythī (d. 234/848. Cambridge, MA: Program in Islamic Law, Harvard Law School, 2019.
  • Hallaq, Wael B. An Introduction to Islamic Law. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
    • Rabb, Intisar A. Doubt in Islamic Law: a History of Legal Maxims, Interpretation, and Islamic Criminal Law. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
    • Salaymeh, Lena. The Beginnings of Islamic Law: Late Antique Islamicate Legal Traditions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
    • Shavit, Uriya. Shari’a and Muslim Minorities: the wasati and salafi Approaches to fiqh al-aqalliyyat al-Muslima. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2015.
    • Zee, Machteld. Choosing Sharia?: multiculturalism, Islamic Fundamentalism and Sharia Councils. The Hague: Eleven International Publishing, 2016.

2.2.3. Articles and Journals

2.2.3.1. Islamic Law in General

Presented here is a separate section on journals, as there are several devoted to Islamic law. Searches on Google Scholar using the phrase Islamic law should be filtered by year of publication or addition of narrower terms; for a collection of classic articles on the topical areas of Islamic family law and commercial law, please see the 2009 version of this guide.

  • Arab law quarterly. [London]: Lloyd’s of London Press, 1985.
  • Islamic Law and Society, Leiden, the Netherlands: E.J. Brill, [1994- ].
  • Journal of Islamic and comparative law. Zaria, Nigeria: Centre of Islamic Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, 1967- .
  • The journal of Islamic law. Takoma Park, Md.: Institute for Intercultural Relations, 2004-
  • Journal of Islamic law review. New Delhi: Serials Publications, 2005- .
  • UCLA journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA School of Law, 2002- .
  • Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern law (published for the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London). London; Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1995- .

Selected Articles; Monographic Series

Note: a large volume of articles in scholarly journals address issues in Islamic law from the philosophical to very specific topics tailored to the many schools and jurisdictions. “Islamic law” works well even as a broad search term. Therefore, only a recent sample and book of collected essays is cited below.

  • Idllalene, Samira. Rediscovery and Revival in Islamic Environmental Law: Back to the Future of Nature’s Trust. Cambridge UK and New York NY: Cambridge University Press 2021. (ASCL Studies in Comparative Law)
  • Lowry, Joseph E., “Reading the Qur’an as a Law Book” (2015). Occasional Papers. Paper 13.
  • Peters, Rudolph and P. J. Bearman, eds. Ashgate Research Companion to Islamic Law. Farnham, Surrey, UK: Ashgate, 2014. (Issued now through Routledge).
  • Samadi, Mona. Advancing the Legal Status of Women in Islamic Law. Leiden; Boston: Brill Nijhoff, 2021. (International Studies in Human Rights)
  • Yakar, Emine Enise. Islamic Law and Society: The Practices of Iftā and Religious Institutions. Abingdon UK and New York NY: Routledge, 2022. Note that this is part of several new titles on jurisdictions and topics by Routledge in its Islamic Law in Context series; this title deals with the fatwa.
2.2.3.2. Islamic Finance
2.2.3.3. Comparative Law in Context
  • Crone, Patricia. Roman, Provincial and Islamic law: The Origins of the Islamic Patronate Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
  • Special Issue 2002 Australian Journal of Asian Law (Leichhardt, NSW: Federation Press) devoted to “Islamic Law in South-east Asia.”

3. Jewish Law

3.1. Essential Facts

“Jewish law is the legal system of the Jewish people as it has developed from Biblical times to the present.” This definition by Phyllis Weisbrod in Basic books and periodicals on Jewish law: a guide for law librarians, 82 Law Libr. J. 519 (1990) summarizes a complex written, oral, and oral-as-written textual history of sources for Jewish law. Torah is the term used for the divine source of wisdom relating to all of creation, so to work towards a definition that relates to the narrower scope of its application as law, or halakhah, begins with the Torah in a more literal sense, namely, the first five books of what the Christian western tradition calls the Pentateuch or first five books of what came to be the Bible. While the status in Biblical and form-based criticism of the ancient compilers of this narrative is beyond the scope of this guide, an oral history of commentary on the Torah arose and became written down as the Mishnah in approximately the year 200. Talmud and Torah also contain non-legal teachings bound up with legend, myth and philosophy, referred to as aggadah.

Learned opinions based on this addition to the divine tradition were recorded as a commentary on the Mishnah and became known as the Talmud or “study”. The Jerusalem Talmud (or Gemarah in Aramaic) dates from the fifth century after Christ, and approximately 100 years later there appeared the Babylonian Talmud, a more authoritative text. Other sources of the “oral” law include the Tosefta and the Midrash Halakhah. After the fall of the Second Temple in 70 and the ending of the assembly of elders known as the Sanhedrin, interpretation fell to the institution of a bet din or rabbinical court of three rabbis. Such a court continued through the diaspora wherever there was a Jewish population. There is no appeal or stare decisis; one can ask the court to correct an erroneous judgment or re-open a criminal case. The tradition is much closer to that of the European civil law in that regard.

Codes of restatement also appeared over time; the codes of Moses Maimonides in the 12th century and of Joseph Karo in the 16th century are considered authoritative. As those rabbis learned in the law applied it in opinions, these became written down as answers and advice known as response, and these constitute a living law.

Archaeological research and scroll discoveries have also added to the wealth of study and potential sources for Jewish law. See Baumgarten, J. “The Laws of the Damascus Document in Current Research,” The Damascus Document Reconsidered (ed. M. Brosh). Jerusalem, 1992. In 1896, noted Talmud scholar and educator Solomon Schechter discovered evidence of sectarian Jewish documents which later were found to be medieval versions of the Damascus Document fifty years before the Qumran discoveries.

Jewish law is now applied in personal law (such as marriage and family) in Israel and Morocco and others which recognize such applications to religious communities; see below in this guide under Implementation of Religious Law in Several Jurisdictions.

3.2. Basic Sources and Their Descriptions: Internet, Books, Articles

3.2.1. Internet/Electronic

3.2.2. Books

3.2.2.1. Primary Texts
  • Talmud Bavli = [Talmud Bavli]: the Schottenstein edition: the Gemara: the classic Vilna edition, with an annotated, interpretive elucidation, as an aid to Talmud study. Hersh Goldwurm; Nosson Scherman, eds. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Mesorah Publications, 1990- .
  • The Babylonian Talmud, translated into English with notes, glossary, and indices under the editorship of Rabbi Dr I. Epstein. 18 vols. in 7 parts. London: Soncino Press, 1935-1952.
  • Soncino Talmud. NY: Soncino Press, 2001.
  • Steinsaltz, Adin. The Talmud: The Steinsaltz edition, translated and edited by Adin Steinsaltz. New York: Random House, [1989-] multi-volume set.
  • Appel, Gersion. The Concise code of Jewish law: compiled from Kitzur Shulhan aruch and traditional sources: a new translation with introduction and halachic annotations based on contemporary response. 2 vols. New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1977- .
  • Ganzfried, Solomon ben Joseph, 1804-1886. Code of Jewish law = Kitzur shulhan aruh: a compilation of Jewish laws and customs / by Solomon Ganzfried ; translated by Hyman E. Goldin. Rev. ed. New York: Hebrew Pub. Co., 1961.

3.2.2.2. Books and Commentary

  • Abrams, Judith Z. The Babylonian Talmud: a topical guide. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2002.
  • Bleich, J. David. Jewish Law and Contemporary Issues. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
  • Cohen, Arnold J. An Introduction to Jewish Matrimonial Law. Jerusalem; New York: Feldheim, 2009.
  • Cohen, Jack J. Judaism in a post-halakhic age. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2010.
  • Cohen, Jonathan, ed. Jewish law association studies. XIX:INTL BM520.52 .S54 2009.
  • Cohen, Jonathan. Jewish commercial law: essays in memory of George Webber by Jonathan Cohen, ed. [Liverpool, UK]: Jewish Law Association, 2009.
  • Elon, Menachem. Jewish Law: History, Sources, Principles = Ha-mishpat ha-Ivri. Trans. Ed. Muriel Berman; trans. Bernard Auerbach and Melvin J. Sykes. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1994.
  • Gillis, David. Reading Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
  • Halberstam, Chaya. Law and Truth in Biblical and Rabbinic Literature. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2010.
  • Hayes, Christine, et al. Jewish law and its Interaction with other Legal Systems. New York: Jewish Law Association [Published and distributed by Deborah Charles Publications on behalf of the JLA], 2015. JLAS XXV.
  • Hecht, Neil S. An Introduction to the History and Sources of Jewish Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
  • Hempel, Charlotte. The laws of the Damascus document: sources, tradition, and redaction. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 1998.
  • Hiers, Richard H. Justice and Compassion in Biblical Law. New York: Continuum, 2009.
  • Irshai, Ronit. Fertility and Jewish law: feminist perspectives on orthodox responsa literature. Trans. by Joel A. Linsider. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2012.
  • Levine, Aaron. Economic morality and Jewish law. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
  • Neusner, Jacob. The rabbinic system: how the aggadah and the halakhah complement each other. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2012.
  • Perlmutter, Rabbi Haim. Gemara Wisdom: Understanding the Ethics in Torah Law, Bava Metzia. Southfield, Mich.: Targum Press, 2009.
  • Resnicoff, Steven H. Understanding Jewish law. 2d ed. Durham,NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2019.
  • Shemesh, Aharon. Halakha in the Making: The Development of Jewish Law from Qumran to the Rabbis. Berkeley, Cal.: University of California Press, 2009.
  • Simon-Shoshan, Moshe. Stories of the Law: Narrative Discourse and the Construction of Authority in the Mishnah. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
  • Sinai, Yuval, et al. Maimonides and Contemporary Tort Theory: Law, Religion, Economics, and Morality. Cambridge UK and New Yor NY: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

3.2.3. Selected Articles and Journals

In general: both book articles in English are available under subject or tag Jewish law or mishpat ivri.

  • RAMBI – the Index of Articles on Jewish Studies, is a multi-lingual bibliography of selected articles on Jewish studies.
  • The Library of the Faculty of Law at Bar Ilan University maintains its own Index to Articles, written in Hebrew or English (select at the top left of the page), that address matters of Jewish law.
  • Baruch, Chad and Karsten Lokken. Research of Jewish Law Issues: A Basic Guide and Bibliography for Students and Practitioners, 77 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 303 (2000).
  • Hollander, David. Jewish Law for the Law Librarian, 98 Law Libr. J. 219 (2006).
  • Hollander, David. Resources to Begin the Study of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism, 105 Law Libr. J. 305 (2013).
  • Sinai, Yuval, The Religious Perspective of the Judge’s Role in Talmudic Law, 25 J. Law & Rel. 357 (2009-2010).
  • Symposium: Rethinking Robert Cover’s Nomos and Narrative: Rabbinic Legal Magic: A New Look at Honi’s Circle as the Construction of Law’s Space, 17 Yale J.L. & Human. 97 (2005).
  • Weisbard, Phyllis Holman. Basic books and periodicals on Jewish law: a guide for law librarians. 82 Law Libr. J. 519 (1990).

4. Christian Canon Law (Roman Catholic Church)

4.1. Essential Facts

(For a more detailed treatment of this subject beyond the brief overview below, and including additional related traditions, see the GlobaLex Canon Law Research Guide article by Don Ford. Some of the materials listed in this overview below are historical).

The canon law of the Roman Catholic Church began to develop alongside Roman law and indigenous law in Europe after the end of the Roman Empire and the retreat of ancient Roman law. Gradually canon law and its Roman law elements would develop into a body of law that could challenge emerging monarchies to develop a coherent national law or the civil law code tradition of secular law in most of Europe today.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia online via New Advent we have the following definitions and description:

Canon law is the body of laws and regulations made by or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members, but the expression “canon law” (jus canonicum) becomes current only about the beginning of the twelfth century, being used in contrast with the “civil law” (jus civile), and later we have the “Corpus juris canonici”, as we have the “Corpus juris Civilis”. Canon law is also called “ecclesiastical law” (jus ecclesiasticum); however, strictly speaking, there is a slight difference of meaning between the two expressions: canon law denotes in particular the law of the “Corpus Juris”, including the regulations borrowed from Roman law; whereas ecclesiastical law refers to all laws made by the ecclesiastical authorities as such, including those made after the compiling of the “Corpus Juris”.

By the 12th century the mass of laws or canons were systematized and rationalized by canonist Gratian in the “decretals” or Concordance of Discordant Canons near the same time as the revived study of ancient Roman law began at the university at Bologna, but further work was done to create the decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234 and so by the end of the 13th century, the Corpus Iurus Canonici consisted of the following texts:

  • the “Decretals” of Gregory IX;
  • those of Boniface VIII (Sixth Book of the Decretals);
  • those of Clement V (Clementinæ) i. e. the collections which at that time, with the “Decree” of Gratian, were taught and explained at the universities. (Catholic Encyclopedia online).

Ecumenical councils of the church, the Pope and Apostolic Letters such as bulls or briefs, decrees of the Roman Curia or Acts of the Holy See also form part of canon law. The Roman Curia or departments of the Holy See consist of Roman Congregations, the tribunals, and the offices of Curia.

The Tribunals consist of the Sacred Penitentiaria, the Sacred Roman Rota, and the Apostolic Signatura. The Sacred Roman Rota consists of auditors who hear contentious cases and are doctors of canon law and theology. They take appeals from the episcopal tribunals of first instance or may be of the first instance for some matters. Cases may be criminal or regarding ordination or matrimony, involving a defender of the bond (of marriage). Advisory opinions may be requested as well. Conclusions of the court must be accompanied by reasons.

A common type of case in canon law relates to requests to grant an annulment of marriage after a civil divorce, since the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize divorce. It is a matter of controversy as to whether there have been in fact ecclesiastical “divorces” for influential persons or under experimental canons used in the United States before the latest Code of Canon Law, promulgated in 1983. The annulment concept came into secular law to void forced marriages and in several other instances, and in both religious and secular arenas, the court declares that no marriage ever existed and so it cannot be dissolved.

4.2. Basic Sources and Their Descriptions: Internet, Books, Articles

4.2.1. Internet

4.2.2. Books

  • Primary: Code of Canon Law (1999) (reprinting the Latin text of the original 1983 Codex Iuris Canonici with some later official corrections and additions).
  • Beal, John P., James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green, eds. New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law. New York: Paulist Press, 2000.
  • Brundage, James A. Medieval Canon Law. London/New York: Longman, 1995.
  • Cartabia, Marta and Andrea Simoncini, eds. Pope Benedict XVI’s Legal Thought: a Dialogue on the Foundation of Law. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
  • Coughlin, John J. Canon Law: A Comparative Study with Anglo-American Legal Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  • Doe, Norman, ed. Church Laws and Ecumenism: A New Path for Christian Unity. Abingdon UK; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. (Useful collection of comparative canon law essays).
  • Orsy, Ladislas M. Receiving the Council: Theological and Canonical Insights and Debates. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2009.
  • Price, Richard, ed. and trans. The Canons of the Quinisext Council (691/2). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2020.
  • Helmholz, R.H. The Spirit of the Classical Canon Law. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1996.
  • Noonan, John T. et al. Canons and Canonists in Context. Goldbach: Keip, 1997.
  • Rolker, Christof. Canon law and the letters of Ivo of Chartres. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Somerville, Robert and Bruce Clark Brasington. Prefaces to Canon Law Books in Latin Christianity: selected translations, 500-1317: commentary and translation. 2d ed. Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2020.
  • Witte, John Jr. From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion and Law in the Western Tradition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.

English Canon Law of the Anglican Church (Church of England):

  • Briden, Timothy. Moore’s Introduction to the English Canon Law. 4th ed. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.
  • Hill, Mark. Ecclesiastical Law. 3d ed. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Eastern Orthodox Canon Law:

  • Patsavos, Elias I. Spiritual Dimensions of the Holy Canons. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2003.

4.2.3. Selected Articles and Journals

  • The Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law (Berkeley Institute of Research and Study in Medieval Canon Law), Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1971- .
  • Journal of Catholic Legal Studies, Jamaica, N.Y.: St. John’s University School of Law, 2005- .
  • The Jurist: Studies in Church Law and Ministry, Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1941- . Jones, Timothy Willem, Sin, Silence and States of Denial: Canon Law and the ‘Discovery’ of Child Sexual Abuse 41 Australian Feminist Law Journal 237 (2015).
  • Landau, Peter. “Aequitas’ in the “Corpus Iuris Canonici’, 20 Syracuse J. Int’l L. & Com. 95(1994).
  • Orsy, Ladislas S.J. Propter Honoris Respectum: Stability and Development in Canon Law and The Case of “Definitive” Teaching, 76 Notre Dame L. Rev. 865 (2001).
  • Raisch, Marylin J. Raisch, Codes and Hypertext: The Intertextuality of International and Comparative Law, 35 Syracuse J. Int’l L. & Com. 309-339 (2008).
  • Review Essay: In the Steps of Gratian: Writing the History of Canon Law in the 1990’s, 48 Emory L.J. 647 (1999).
  • Young, Stephen and Alson Shea, Separating State from Church: A Research Guide to the Law of the Vatican City State 99 Law Libr. J., 589, -610 (2007).

5. Hindu Law

5.1. Essential Facts

From an ancient time, 2000-1500 B.C., the Vedic literature existed, and while it informs a tradition of gods, the literature points to the concept of the One as interpreted by the Brahmans. These teachers also used the sutras or memorized books (like textbooks) of law or dharma (in one of its meanings; closer to “way of life”).

The Laws of Manu, a mythical author, of circa 200 B.C. shows the beginnings of this legal tradition of great variety, although his focus was family, property, and succession law. The early Sanskrit literature was replaced gradually in the colonial period when the British substituted their own translations and understanding in place of what came before; Anglo-Indian law preserved family law areas (five elements of family law—marriage, child marriage, polygamy, divorce, and maintenance) as Hindu personal law and replaced the rest with colonial British law. It was a judge made law. The Hindu Code of independence became one among other personal codes and preserved much of the British innovation. Custom and local tradition could prevail over sacred texts even in the time of classical Indian law. According to the Laws of Manu, there are four sources of dharma: 1) the Vedas, 2) tradition, especially as set forth in treatises like Dharmasastras, 3) customary laws created by local or regional communities, and 4) personal preference.

The important post-colonial acts of Parliament for the Hindu Code include: the Hindu Marriage Act No. XXV of 1955; Hindu Code (1955); the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 78 of 1956; Hindu Code (1956); the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act No. 32 of 1956, Hindu Code (1956); the Hindu Succession Act No. XXX of 1956, Hindu Code (1956); and the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act No. XXXIX of 2005. (Note: the website of the India Code (indiacode.nic.in) is linked from the government site; these links are to the Legal Information Institute (LII) of India, which links more reliably at faster speed).

5.2. Basic Sources and Their Descriptions: Internet, Books, Articles

5.2.1. Internet

Internet Sacred Text Archive for the Vedas and Laws of Manu (older translations only).

5.2.2. Books

Primary

  • Olivelle, Patrick, trans. Law Code of Manu. Oxford World’s Classics. 2004, reissued 2009.
  • Olivelle, Patrick, trans. and ed. A Dharma Reader: Classical Indian law. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017.
  • Olivelle, Patrick and Donald R. Davis, eds. Hindu Law: a New History of Dharmaśāstra. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. (Also part of Oxford Scholarship Online with the series title Oxford History of Hinduism).

Commentary

  • Davis, Jr., Donald R. The Spirit of Hindu law. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Fleming, Christopher Thomas. Ownership and Inheritance in Sanskrit Jurisprudence. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.
  • Hiltebeitel, Alf. Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative. Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (explores Buddhist and Brahmanical ideas of dharma in Indian texts from 300 BC to AD 200). Also listed below for Buddhism.
  • Holden, Livia. Hindu Divorce: A Legal Anthropology (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008).
  • Lubin, Timothy; Davis, Donald R.; Krishnan, Jayanth K., eds. Hinduism and Law: An Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Mahmood, Tahir. Principles of Hindu Law; Personal law of Hindus, Buddhists, Jains & Sikhs. New Delhi: Universal Law Publishing Co., 2014.
  • Mondal, Amrita. Owning Land, Being Women: Inheritance and Subjecthood in India. Boston: De Gruyter, 2021.
  • Tabasum, Mufti Samiya. Hindu Law. New Delhi: Satyam Law International, 2015.

Note: Titles in this area abound from Indian publishers over many decades and the list is selective based on citation frequency observed (not analyzed) in scholarly legal writing.

5.2.3. Articles

  • Garg, Sampak P. Law and Religion: The Divorce Systems of India, 6 Tulsa J. Comp. & Int’l L. 1 (1998).
  • Leubsdorf, John. Symposium: Gandhi’s Legal Ethics, 51 Rutgers L. Rev. 923 (1999).
  • Seshagiri Rao, K.L. Symposium: The Relevance of Religion to a Lawyer’s Work: An Interfaith Conference: The Theological Perspective: Practitioners of Hindu Law: Ancient and Modern, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 1185 (1998).

6.1. Essential Facts

Tibet 1940-1959 is the most illustrative jurisdiction for an examination of what followers of the Buddha in an authentic Buddhist culture regard as the source of laws and rules that govern a monastically inclined community as well as householders’ obligations.

According to Rebecca French,

“There are five major sources for Tibetan legal concepts: (1) religious source material such as the Vinaya which is a canonical text outlining the rules for the monks to follow as Buddha spoke them case by case; (2) Extant official documents which include administrative law books, edicts, decision documents, treatises, government contracts, estate record books, tax records and deeds to land; (3) documents issued by non-governmental institutions such as monastic constitutions, private leases and private contract documents; (4) law codes; and (5) written and oral statements describing the legal system.” The Case of the Missing Discipline: Finding Buddhist Legal Studies 52 Buffalo L. Rev. 679, 682-684, fn 4.

Dhammasattha is the Pali term for the genre of legal literature which may be examined in relationship to householders and communities, or sanghas, used by such communities in Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Thailand, and this literature probably dates from the first millennium. Courts of law in colonial times used “Acts of Truth” in Sri Lanka’s Sinhala Buddhist community for proof in judicial proceedings. These were oaths taken upon consequences to be observed as between truth-tellers and others. In Thailand, legal proceedings that replace informal “injury narratives” in tort cases (or events which may or may not result in a case) appear less effective in resolution of claims than the traditional methods under Buddhist obligations (see Engel article cited below). These exercises in legal history and anthropology bear on modern developments in criminal law and restorative justice as well.

6.2. Basic Sources and Their Descriptions: Internet, Books, Articles

6.2.1. Internet

6.2.2. Books

  • French, Rebecca Redwood and Mark A. Nathan, eds. Buddhism and Law: An Introduction. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • French, Rebecca Redwood. “Daughters of the Buddha: The Sakyadhita Movement, Buddhist Law and the Position of Buddhist Nuns” in Feminism, Law and Religion, Marie A. Failinger, Elizabeth R. Schiltz, and Susan J. Stabile, eds. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2013.
  • French, Rebecca. The Golden Yoke. The Legal Cosmology of Buddhist Tibet. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1995.
  • Keown, Damien V. et al., eds. Buddhism and Human Rights. Richmond UK: Curzon Press, 1998.
  • Lahiri, Nayanjot. Ashoka in Ancient India. Cambridge MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2015.
  • Meinert, Carmen and Hans-Bernd Zöllner, eds. Buddhist Approaches to Human Rights: Dissonances and Resonances. Bielefeld: Transcript; New Brunswick (U.S.A.: Distributed in North America by Transaction Publishers, 2010.
  • Lammerts, D. Christian. Buddhist Law in Burma: A History of Dhammasattha Texts and Jurisprudence, 1250-1850. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2018.
  • Schonthal, Benjamin. Buddhism, politics and the limits of law: the pyrrhic constitutionalism of Sri Lanka. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
  • [Forthcoming: papers from a University of Chicago workshop series on Buddhism and Constitutional Law will be published by Cambridge University Press.]

6.2.3. Selected Articles and Journals

  • Buddhism, Law & Society. Getzville, New York: William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 2016- .
  • Crouch, Melissa. Promiscuity, Polygyny, and the Power of Revenge: The Past and Future of Burmese Buddhist Law in Myanmar, 3 Asian J. Law & Soc’y 85 (2016).
  • Huxley, Andrew. Symposium: Law, Religion, And Identity: Positivists and Buddhists: The Rise and Fall of Anglo-Burmese Ecclesiastical Law, 2001, 26 Law & Soc. Inquiry 113 (2001).
  • Schonthal, Benjamin. The Case for Religious Constitutions: Comparative Constitutional Law among Buddhists and Other Religious Groups, [46] Law & Soc. Inquiry 1-29 (2021). doi:10.1017/lsi.2021.36. Whitecross, Richard W. Separation of Religion and Law: Buddhism, Secularism and the Constitution of Bhutan, 55 Buff. L. Rev. 707 (2007-2008).
  • Zan, Myint. A Comparison of the First and Fiftieth Year of Independent Burma’s Law Reports, 35 Victoria U. Wellington L. Rev. 385 (2004).
  • Of Consummation, Matrimonial Promises, Fault, and Parallel Wives: The Role of Original Texts, Interpretation, Ideology and Policy in Pre-and Post-1962 Burmese Case Law, 14 Colum. J. Asian L. 153 (2000).

7.1. Essential Facts

The teachings of K’ung-tzu (older form Kong fou-tseu) known in the west as Confucius bear on the informal legal tradition of the Chinese jurisdictions where the rite and custom of persuasive example or li has been an alternative even within that culture to legalistic codes or more positive law (fa). Penal and administrative law has been more prominent than any private law and so the influence as of other religious systems on family law or obligations is not seen in the positive law. Confucianism is often seen as a philosophy and not a religion, but it is included here as a basis for law as a means of social control and reinforcing roles, similar in some ways to ancient Roman law.

Research for western legal scholars is dependent upon scholarship in a difficult language transliterated differently over the years using Wade-Giles or pinyin systems. As a guide, these textual problems are described as quoted below from an article by Janet E. Ainsworth, Interpreting Sacred Texts: Preliminary Reflections on Constitutional Discourse in China, 43 Hastings L.J. 273 (1992):

“The Confucian Classics are a collection of writings said to date from the late Chou Dynasty (1122 – 221 B.C.). In accord with the Chinese cultural penchant for enumeration, they are referred to as either the Five Classics or the Six Classics. Some years later, certain scholars claimed to have discovered surviving copies of the Classics which had ostensibly escaped the Ch’in burning decree — texts written using the ancient style characters of the Chou Dynasty. For a brief time, the two rival sets of texts, the “New Texts” (chin wen) in contemporary Han Dynasty script and the “Old Texts” (ku wen) in ancient script, vied for dominance among Confucian scholars. By the closing years of the Han Dynasty, however, the Old Text versions of the Classics prevailed over the New Texts. Nevertheless, the episode of the book-burning shaped the Confucian attitude towards the Classics, fueling a perpetual insecurity that the canon which survived was in some way defective or incomplete. That fear was to provide the justification for revising and reconstructing the canon throughout Chinese history.

Classical scholars over the centuries felt free to propose additions or deletions to the Confucian canon. The Book of Rites, for example, was originally supposed to have contained 204 chapters. Later scholars whittled it down to eighty-five, then to forty-nine chapters. Confucius himself provided a precedent for such wholesale revision of the classical texts, in that he traditionally was credited with excising major portions of the Book of Poetry, and perhaps the Book of Documents as well. Many of the articles below also consider the influence of the Tao, another major philosophical and ritual influence on society and legal thinking.

The contestability of the classical Confucian texts was to have dramatic political consequences in late imperial China. During the late Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), using sophisticated philological techniques, these scholars exposed a number of these classical texts as forgeries. They therefore advocated going back to the so-called New Text versions of the Classics, which Han Dynasty scholars had reconstructed from memory.” pp. 286-290

7.2. Basic Sources and Their Descriptions: Internet, Books, Articles

7.2.1. Internet/Electronic

  • Internet Sacred Text Archive, Confucian “classics” in older translations, of the “Canon”, Analects, and many other documents.
  • Ho, Norman. The Legal Philosophy of Zhu Xi (朱熹) (1130-1200) and Neo-Confucianism’s Possible Contributions to Modern Chinese Legal Reform, 3 Tsinghua China Law Rev. 168 (2011).

7.2.2. Books

  • Chang, Wejen. In Search of the Way: Legal Philosophy of the Classic Chinese Thinkers. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016.
  • Head, John W. Legal Transparency in Dynastic China: The Legalist-Confucianist Debate and Good Governance in Chinese Tradition. Durham NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2013.
  • Liu, Y., Origins of Chinese Law: Penal and Administrative Law in its Early Development. Hong Kong: Oxford: New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • MacCormack G. The Spirit of Traditional Chinese Law. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1996.
  • McAleavy, H., “Chinese Law” in J. Derrett, An Introduction to Legal Systems. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1968 at 65.
  • Ren, X., Tradition of the Law and Law of the Tradition: Law, State, and Social Control in China. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
  • Yand, C. K. Religion in Chinese Society, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961.
  • Zhao, Bo. Legal Principles and Chinese Law: A Philosophical Investigation. The Hague: Boom Juridische Uitgevers, 2009.

7.2.3. Selected Articles and Journals

  • Chuanhui, Zeng. Coalition and Hegemony: Religion’s Role in the Progress of Modernization in Reformed China, 2011 BYU L. Rev. 759 (2011).
  • Fang, Quiang and Roger Des Forges. Were Chinese Rulers above the Law – Toward a Theory of the Rule of Law in China from Early Times to 1949 CE, 44 Stan. J. Int’l L. 101 (2008).
  • Ho, Norman. Legal Realizm and Chinese Law: Are Confucian [sic] Legal Realists, Too?, 13 Tsinghua China L. Rev. 127 (2020).
  • Li, Weng, Philosophical Influences on Contemporary Chinese Law, 6 IND. INT’L & COMP. L. REV 327 (1996).
  • Park, S. Thinking with Chinese Cases: Crime, Law, and Confucian Justice in Korean Case Literature, 53 Korea Journal 5 (2013).
  • Waha, Carolyn R. The Teachings of Confucius: A Basis and Justification for Alternative Non-Military Civilian Service, 2 Rutgers J. Law & Relig. 3 (2000/2001)
  • Wong, Bobby K.Y. Traditional Chinese Philosophy and Dispute Resolution, 2000, 30 Hong Kong L.J. 304
  • Winfield, Betty H. Takeya Mizuno and Christopher E. Beaudoin. Confucianism, Collectivism and Constitutions: Press Systems in China and Japan, 5 Comm. L. & Pol’y 323 (2000).
  • Zhao, Jianmin. Religion and Law in China. 2d ed. “This book was originally published as a monograph in the International Encyclopaedia of Laws / Religion.” Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International, 2019.

8. Implementation of Religious Law in Several Jurisdictions

For links to the constitutions of the world in a reliable internet source, and with a superb comparative chart feature for areas of constitutional law to view parallel topics as treated in two different countries’ constitutions, the best current source is Constitute, or the Constitute Project produced by the Comparative Constitutions Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Countries listed below are those listed in the Constitute database under either “status of religious law” or “establishment of religious courts.” Free exercise and even official religion are common constitutional norms and as such do not always indicate presence of the religious law that is the topic of this guide and so constitutional systems listing those principles alone are not included.

Country Religious System Areas of Law Affected Relevant Legal Texts or Institutions
Afghanistan Islamic state; Shari’a (Hanafi school) for Sunnis; Shia for that community Personal relations, inheritance, criminal law, some aspects of land tenure Const. 2004
Albania Mainly Islamic population in secular state; some Christian groups w. local control; some customary law Local matters Const.1998 (rev. 2012)
Algeria Islamic law, Maliki school (custom of Medina prevails over Hadith); history of French code influence Personal law, criminal law and procedure Const. 2020
Andorra Canon law when custom silent Family law, domestic relationships Const., Codex iuris canonici of 1983
Bahrain Shari’a, w. British common law as applied in India; Sunni schools apply to Shi’ite unless both parties of that sect Personal relationships, non-commercial Const. 2002 (rev. 2012), Commercial code 1987 allows interest; preferred over Shari’a in that area
Bangladesh Islamic & common law structures; some Hindu Personal to a given community Constitution amended through 2004 text amended through 2011 available via World Constitutions Illustrated (fee based)
Brunei Separate system of Shari’a courts Personal* Const. 1959 (rev. 2006): see also Ann Black, Survival or Extinction? Animistic Dispute Resolution in the Sultanate of Brunei, 13 Willamette Jour. Int’l Law & Dispute Resolution 1-25 (2005).
Burkina Faso Customary and Islamic law, Maliki school in French context Based on status Const. through 2002reforms re modern civil law
Chad

Customary and Islamic law, Maliki school: north; Christian and animist south

Islam

Separation of religion and state Const.2018 Versions through 2005 available via World Constitutions Illustrated (fee based) – Unified court system with civil and customary law. (fee based).
Comoros Principles of Islam in Preamble Const. 2018
Cyprus Autocephalous Greek-Orthodox Church of Cyprus; Muslim Turkish Cypriots Status of Greek church; mosque property Const. 1960 (rev. 2013): articles in Part V
Egypt Shari’a, Hanafi school emerging within French civil and commercial law Personal status Const. 2014, Art. 2 “Islam is the religion of the state…the principles of Islamic law form the main source of legislation.”
Ethiopia Shari’a and Ethiopian Orthodox practice Family law Const.1994/1995 –draft now adopted
Gambia Shari’a for Muslims Marriage, divorce, inheritance Const. 1996 (rev. 2004)
Ghana Shari’a for Muslims Matrimonial law Const. 1992 (as amended to 1996
Holy See (Vatican State) Canon law and some civil status laws Lateran Pacts cover several areas. Codex iuris canonici of 1983 (Code of Canon law)
India Carry-over of laws for Hindu and Muslim communities from British colonial codes and acts Personal, succession, contract and land laws Muslim personal law application act 26 of 1937. the Hindu Marriage Act No. XXV of 1955, Hindu Code (1955), the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 78 of 1956, Hindu Code (1956), the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act No. 32 of 1956, Hindu Code (1956), and the Hindu Succession Act No. XXX of 1956, Hindu Code (1956). Full current texts; Const. 1949 (rev. 2015)
Indonesia Islam as practiced by Muslims and Hindu-influenced Java Matrimonial law, inheritance and religious foundations (waqf) Const. Indonesia 1945 (reinst. 1959, rev. 2002)
Iran Islamic Republic under Shiite Shari’a law Civil, penal, financial, administrative, military and other public laws must conform to Islam Const. Iran 1979 (rev. 2002)
Iraq Shia are majority; Sunni apply many schools

Const. Article (2): 1st – Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation:

(a) No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam.

Const. Iraq 2005
Israel Jewish law, Islamic law, Canon law for each community Personal status and family law Religious courts for each community or sect, such as Druze, and in many areas applies if both parties are of same religious group, mixed with secular law; Const. 1958 (rev. 2013)
Jordan Islamic law Mixed laws Const. 1952 (rev. 2014), Two Court systems for Muslim and non-Muslim
Kenya Islamic and Hindu Private, non-commercial law (family, inheritance, property) Const. 2010

Korea,

Republic of (south)

Confucian philosophy mixed with civil law and US influences Social norms Const. Rep. of Korea 1948 (rev. 1987)
Kuwait Islamic law Hanafi with Maliki school followed in personal status Const. 1962 (reinst. 1992)
Lebanon Islam and European models Personal status, family law other than property Const. 1926 (rev. 2004) – Arabic amended to 2004, World Constitutions Illustrated (fee based). Recognition of Catholic sects, Jewish community and three Islamic sects with laws and tribunals especially for domestic relations and inheritance
Libya Secular Islamic state Personal law is Islamic Interim Const. 2011 (rev. 2012) Traditionally, religious and secular courts; Islamic courts deal with the personal status as to marriage and inheritance.
Malaysia Islamic, Chinese classical and vestiges of Hindu law Family law both Islamic and secular in a common law context Const. 1957 (rev. 2007) NOTE re 2019: Federal law and state laws try to codify and make uniform the mixed family law . Law Revision Commission 15 Oct. 2020 re amendments of 2019 NOT consolidated in Constitute text downloadable via Hein World Constitutions Illustrated (subscription required)
Mali Muslim population Shari’a of Maliki school applied in general courts New codes embody both religious and secular law, Const. 1992
Mauritania Sunni Islam Islamic law applies in personal law and form commercial law model Const.1991 (rev. 2012); Mainly Islamic court system
Maldives Islam Law must be consistent with Shari’a; judges must consider it when constitution or law is silent Const. 2008
Morocco Islamic civil code universal Personal, criminal law Const 2011 – Maliki school applies codes in all but commercial areas; Jewish rabbinical courts; French contract and property law.
Montenegro Christian with large Muslim minority Freedom of religion Constitution 2007
Myanmar Buddhist law after repression, Theravada school Marriage, personal status, succession Constitution 2008; art. 361 special position of Buddhism as majority faith
Nigeria Islamic shari’a courts, northern region Muslim personal law, Maliki school; penal law

Const.1999 (as amended to 2011 via World Constitutions Illustrated (fee based)- Shari’a court of appeal in each state; final unless federal constitutional questions arise; problem of separate Shari’a penal codes 12 states in north such as Zamfara, enforced by separate courts;

Oba,A.A., The Shari’a Court of Appeal in Northern Nigeria, 52 Am. .J. Comp. L. 859 (2004)

Oman Islamic Shari’a, Sunni Ibadi school Covers private and commercial law, latter Hanbali or Maliki Const. Oman 1996 (rev. 2011)
Pakistan Islamic republic

Covers private, penal and economic

areas

Const. 1973 (reinst. 2002, rev. 2015), orders (1973 document frequently suspended); Muslim Family Laws ordinance; family law
Philippines

Islamic law in Mindinao;

older canon law code influences

Where recognized, Islamic personal law for Muslims Const. 1987; Shari’a courts established for Muslims
Qatar Shari’a, Hanbali school

Family and personal law but

not commercial

Const. 2003, legislation mixed with non-Islamic commercial sources
Saudi Arabia Shari’a applied to entire legal system, Hanbali school Personal, penal and commercial as supplemented by decrees conforming to superior Shari’a Qu’ran, royal decrees, and Shari’a opinions of judges; a 1992 (rev. 2013) set of basic laws forms the constitutional framework
Senegal Islamic law family area Family code departs from other codes that are on French model Const. 2001 (rev. 2009)
Serbia Orthodox Christian and Muslim conflicts Informal and non-Constitutional traditions Const. 2006
Somalia Islam Sunni Muslim All areas Draft Const. Federal Review Committee, 2012
Sri Lanka Islamic, customary and religious laws recognized; Buddhist Sinhalese Family law Const. 1978 (rev. 2015), Special courts for Islamic law as applied to that community; Ministry of Buddhist Affairs
Sudan Shari’a; factions and some instability; Sunni Applied where legislation silent Interim Framework agreements and Interim Constitution 2005
Suriname Laws for Islamic, Hindu and Asian groups Matrimonial and property laws Const. 1987 (rev. 1992) – there are separate laws re marriage and property.
Syrian Arab Republic Shari’a of Hanafi school main source of law Family law, codified Const. 2012; amendments through 2012 via World Constitutions Illustration (fee based); Personal status laws; religious courts for sects of Druze, Syrian Christians, Jews re personal status, inheritance, family law
Taiwan Confucian and legalist traditions All laws incorporate traditional Chinese norms Const. 1947 (rev. 2005)
Tanzania Islamic law in Tanganyika and Zanzibar Applied to Muslim states, groups Const. rev. 2005
Thailand From Hindu to Buddhist norms Buddhist customary community and practices

Const. 2014;

Informal dispute resolution for religious practitioners;

Tunisia Islam; Sunni Shari’a of Maliki and Hanafi schools Personal status, property and obligations on Islamic basis Const 2014
Turkey Islamic heritage only; Muslim population Private and commercial law uses European models or adoptions Const. 1982 (rev. 2011); European Union accession discussions notably drive away from explicit Shari’a but fundamentalism growing politically
Uganda Islam, Quadis’ (or Kadhis’) courts Courts established for Muslim community for marriage, divorce, inheritance, guardianship Const. 1995 (rev. 2005)
United Arab Emirates Shari’a Hanafi school Personal, penal but not commercial Const. 1971 (rev. 2009); Shari’a principal source but not applied in economic and business areas (interest allowed); Islamic jurisprudence
Yemen Shari’a Shari’a is source of all legislation Const. 1991 (rev. 2001)