RT Article
T1 Religious Law in the Service of Human Rights?: Developments in the Jurisdiction on Human Rights by Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court in the 1990s
JF Interdisciplinary journal for religion and transformation in contemporary society
VO 7
IS 1
SP 155
OP 187
A1 Greeff, Wiebke 1984-
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2021
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1762936720
AB Abstract During the 1990s, a period representing the peak of often novel interpretations in human rights litigation by the judges of the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt’s human rights performance was better than in other Islamic states sharing a commitment to the supremacy of Shari’a law. This article argues that there is a gap between the dogmatic assertion of the communal good life defined in traditional Islamic terms and the reality of governance usually at odds with these stipulations. The peculiar practice of the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court in the 1990s highlighted two crucial, related questions: first, was it in principle possible to narrow that gap and align governmental action to rules derived from scripture? Second, does the highly fragmented and inconsistent character of classical Islamic law offer advantages in its adaptation to modernity? This article claims that the relative progress towards compliance with international human rights standards was due to progressive and strategically litigating judges, who used Islamic law opportunistically rather than dogmatically.
K1 margins of judicial interpretation
K1 human rights litigation
K1 human rights law
K1 Islamic Law
K1 Supreme Constitutional Court
K1 Egypt
DO 10.30965/23642807-bja10010