To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether states imposing Sharia Law are in breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or any other United Nations declaration of human rights. [HL3450]

The Government have not carried out such an assessment of all states that have systems of Sharia law, or elements thereof, in place. But all states are bound under the UN charter to promote respect for human rights. All states, including those that practise Sharia, have also voluntarily ratified at least one international human rights treaty under the UN's auspices, and are hence bound by their human rights obligations under the relevant treaties and obliged to submit reports on the measures they have adopted to give effect to the rights in the treaties they have ratified to the relevant treaty monitoring body. These monitoring processes are designed to assess the compatibility of a state's laws and practices with its international human rights obligations.

While the Government would not wish to generalise about Sharia, which takes different forms in a number of states, they do have some concerns where Sharia is used to restrict the enjoyment of some human rights and freedoms. We are concerned that women and children can be subject to discrimination in many countries where the principles of Sharia are applied. However, much of this discrimination is based on interpretation, tradition and custom rather than the principles of Sharia itself. Many Muslim states have signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and have committed themselves to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and we urge them to do so.

The Government's concern about the violations of these rights worldwide is not confined only to states where Sharia is applied. While we oppose the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, depending on how Sharia is interpreted we have serious concerns about: the broad scope of crimes that are punishable by death, the age at which an individual is eligible to face the death penalty and stoning as a method of execution. The UK, with its EU partners, campaigns against the death penalty, under whatever system of law it is imposed.