German "Qur'an judge" will not be disciplined

http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/016800.php

June 7, 2007

German "Qur'an judge" will not be disciplined

The German judge who used the Qur'an to make a ruling in a German court will not face any disciplinary action.

"Investigation Dropped Against German 'Koran Judge,'" from Spiegel Online, with thanks to all who sent this in:

A German judge under investigation for ruling against a speedy divorce for an abused Moroccan woman -- who based her decision on the supposed Islamic "right to castigate" -- will not be disciplined.
In her disputed ruling, the judge cited a controversial verse from the Koran that some say allows a husband the "right to castigate."


That would be 4:34, and the "right to castigate" is a mainstream view.

The German judge who sparked controversy when she denied a speedy divorce to a battered woman because of her Islamic background (more...) will not be disciplined, an investigation has ruled. The Justice Ministry in the German state of Hesse has decided that the Frankfurt judge's ruling did not overstep the acceptable limits of judicial independence.
The case began in October 2006, when a 26-year-old woman filed for immediate divorce from her husband, who had been making death threats to his wife after she left him because of his abusive behavior. German law requires that a couple wait a year between separation and divorce, but the woman's lawyer believed that her circumstances met the "hardship" classification that allows for a speedier ruling.

But in January the judge -- who cannot be named for legal reasons -- denied the woman's request because the couple was of Moroccan origin, citing a Koran verse that some say gives the husband the "right to castigate." The lawyer, Barbara Becker-Rojczyk, filed a subsequent claim, saying the judge should remove herself from the case due to conflict of interest, which was also rejected. The judge, did, however, put a restraining order on the husband and grant the couple's apartment to the wife.

In a March interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Becker-Rojczyk said she and her client were shocked by the ruling, and had decided to go public. Shortly thereafter, politicians began calling for an investigation (more...), and the Frankfurt court removed the judge from the case. A different judge later granted the disputed early divorce.

Despite strong criticism from the German Judges Association (DRB), Hesse Justice Minister Jürgen Banzer authorized an investigation into the judge's behavior. However the investigation found no reason to discipline the judge because she protected the woman with the restraining order, and her Koran reference was actually in a decision to deny legal aid, and not within an official ruling.


Posted by Robert at June 7, 2007 11:36 AM
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"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.