What was the Archbishop saying?

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s lecture

The Temple Church in the heart of legal London and the Centre of Islamic and Middle East Law (CIMEL) at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London are sponsoring a series of lecture-discussions on Islam in English law - http://www.middletemple.org.uk/content.asp?PageID=437

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, launched the series on 7 February with a foundation lecture on civil and religious law in England. The discussions are part of the 2008 Temple Festival, a year-long mix of music, art, drama, history and law events to mark the 400th anniversary of James I granting the Inner and Middle Temples freehold of their land. The lecture, which was given before an audience of about 1000 people and which was chaired by the Lord Chief Justice, was the first in a series of six lectures and discussions which are being given by senior Muslim and other lawyers and theologians at the Temple Church on the general theme of 'Islam in English Law'.

The media coverage of this lecture has been intense. A serious study of the issues must start with reading the text of the lecture and considering the context in which the Archbishop spoke:

The lecture
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1575


Before delivering the lecture the Archbishop gave a radio interview which sparked the controversy that was to surround the lecture:

The BBC Interview
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1573


It was during this interview that the Archbishop agreed with a question that said the application of Sharia in certain circumstances was unavoidable.

The following statement is made on the Archbishop’s website:

‘The Archbishop made no proposals for Sharia in either the lecture or the interview, and certainly did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law.’

Armed with what was actually said and the context in which it was said it is then possible to evaluate the media coverage in terms of its accuracy.

Beginnings

Law as a subject is being launched at the University of Winchester in September 2008.