DivorceTopics: International, US, Local. Bridging Cultures, Forces.

Divorce, Judicial Systems and Parallel Tracks: Politics, International Relations, Economic Systems

2008-02-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

How to make decisions, Societal systems. A long-established combat-focused cultural mindset has been the way of choice for a long time: the battle motif has brought many rewards to the successful in a number of areas:

in extreme capitalism (see ://prorev.com/extreme.htm);
in obtaining elective office by using words as weapons (://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth); and
in recipes for dominance in any other chosen area.

This battle mindset also of necessity has governed the traditional judicial system, because we are all the same people, the same culture. See an overview list of us in our various roles at Hello, Fodder: Typecasting.

The watchwords include 1) Buyer beware; 2) If it's on the table, I can take it; 3) Once I have it, I keep it; and 4) I have no obligation to tell you what I know about it, unless specifically forced to do so. Fibs are fine. See Joy of Equivocating, Fib Meme.

And, if I can get you to believe something before the facts are in (or while I conceal them from you), and where your belief is based on an emotional response, I win - your conclusions will be very difficult to change, once drawn, regardless of new facts. See Joy of Equivocating, Emoticon Dominance - Feeling Supersedes Fact. I can use any persuasion technique, so long as it works - see the list of those, dating from an American list in 1937, Hello, Fodder: Propaganda Index.

In sum, each for himself/herself, move the business along, don't whine. Get real.

This may be changing, ever so slowly:

Economics: "Blended value" is being discussed, for example, in finding investment value in not only direct and immediate economic return, but also environmental and social improvements related to the project, in the financial world, see ://www.intentblog.com/archives/2006/08/beyond_extreme.html. Financial return cannot be the sole consideration in capitalism - it does not bring about security, or public health, see http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE1DC123FF937A25753C1A9679C8B63.

Politics: Voters are becoming (perhaps) more attuned to propaganda techniques like name-calling, euphemism; using strategically planted photos to undermine the other side, see Joy of Equivocating, Political Photos; FUD see Hello, Fodder: Propaganda Study 1937. To that propaganda list, add "FUD" - the uses of fear, uncertainty and doubt in order to persuade, at Joy of Equivocating, Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt as Sales Tactics; and Joy of Equivocating, Spotting FUD.

And, in the area of family law, new patterns are gaining acceptance that are not war-derived: that do not turn first to aggression, adversarial techniques geared to one win and the other lose; but instead to mediation, collaborative law, and people going through the process "pro se" - on their own, with some guidance as they may desire in informal ways.

How to define it: The method chosen for resolving disagreements can define the kind of success anticipated, and how long it may last. Consider the term "consensus" for this approach. It means informed permission to proceed in a direction - not necessarily agreement with the reasons for it. See Joy of Equivocating, Consensus and Jury Duty. If it is possible for people to work out what to do while ignoring the other's rationale, is there less anger, resentment, drive to overturn the result.

Resources, Sharia Law, Family Law, Specific Countries

2008-02-25T15:59:00.000-08:00

If you are a mediator, or collaborative lawyer, and a client is Muslim, you may want to become familiar with basic precepts, the range, in order to find a mid-ground, or other acceptable resolution of property and income issues in changing relationships. In particular, is there any process by which a divorce settlement, acceptable within the range of the new resident state (more Western, perhaps), can conform also to Islamic law, so the person seeking divorce in the new resident state will not be seen as "apostate." Is that a fair statement of the issue?

We are not experts here. Instead, we do a first cut on internet resources to save you time, we hope.

Islam. The interpretations of the meaning of the Koran, or Qu'ran, or other spellings, can be wide, depending on the country of origin for the persons involved.

As a start for your own research, here follows an index of countries and sites found that, to this researcher, seem reasonable:

General: "Islam: Governing Under Sharia," an overview dated 3/ 14/05 at //www.cfr.org/publication/8034/http:/. This gives an overview of many issues you and your clients face. What is Sharia, how is it applied to banking and finance, what happens if one client seeks to disavow the original religion (apostasy) and seek the application of the law of the new state of residence. As to apostasy, the rejection of Islam, whether by words or actions, is punished by death, see ://answering-islam.org.uk/Silas/apostasy.htm; but this site suggests that is not commonly carried out now, see ://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_apos.htm; but this may be changing, see ://www.light-of-life.com/eng/ilaw/

Egypt: Egypt. See this site for overview of Islamic law applied there, article January 9, 2005, "Egyptian Women See Divorce as Religious Right," at ://www.religiousconsultation.org/News_Tracker/Egyptian_women_see_divorce_as_religious_right.htm; and "Public Policy and Islamic Law: The Modern Dhimma in Contemporary Egyptian Family Law," by Maurits Berger of the University of Amsterdam. Go to ://.emubarak.googlepages.com/dhimmiinegypt.pdf.

Remember that the Koran or Qu'ran or other spelling cannot be translated. Any translation is an impermissible change in the words given to the Prophet. There can only be the meaning of the Koran, or other spelling.

Choice of Law; Conflict of Laws - European Union: State's Law or Religious

2008-02-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

Financial Times Jan 12-13, 2008:

Sweden is opposing a proposal that it enforce divorce laws that had applied to persons residing earlier within another legal setting (example, Sharia law), and even when they now reside in Sweden. The European Union's European Commission in July 2006, see ://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm, proposes that the law of the couple's most recent prior residence apply, including Islamic divorce law. This approach would prohibit Sweden from enforcing sexual equality, a value there.

The intent of the proposal was (is) to enable couples more right to choose which law would apply.

About 16% of the 875,000 annual divorces in the EU are international. There are 27 member states in the EU.

Examples of variation:

Malta - prohibits divorce
Poland - seeks more difficult divorce, not easier
United Kingdom - prefers the Commission and the EU not to become involved and may opt out of any legislation
Spain - be married for 3 months, then divorce may be filed
Finland and the Netherlands: support Sweden's view
France, Germany, Slovenia support the Commission
Germany: suggests that each couple sign a contract before marriage establishing the choice of law