Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013

Efforts to expand the application of Islamic criminal law in Muslim majority states to implement hudud laws present governments with difficult choices between modern human rights norms and conservative local understandings of Islamic tradition. The governments of Muslim majority countries in Southea...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Griffith Law Review
Main Author: Lindsey T.; Steiner K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Routledge 2016
Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85010674408&doi=10.1080%2f10383441.2016.1273294&partnerID=40&md5=d09120f4eefcb616beefafea267d4c4a
id 2-s2.0-85010674408
spelling 2-s2.0-85010674408
Lindsey T.; Steiner K.
Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013
2016
Griffith Law Review
25
4
10.1080/10383441.2016.1273294
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85010674408&doi=10.1080%2f10383441.2016.1273294&partnerID=40&md5=d09120f4eefcb616beefafea267d4c4a
Efforts to expand the application of Islamic criminal law in Muslim majority states to implement hudud laws present governments with difficult choices between modern human rights norms and conservative local understandings of Islamic tradition. The governments of Muslim majority countries in Southeast Asia used to be very reluctant to embrace hudud but that has begun to change in recent decades. In Brunei, the introduction of a sweeping and conservative Syariah Penal Code Order that includes hudud punishments, such as amputation and stoning to death, has been driven by this tiny oil-rich state’s absolute monarchy. It sees the Code as further entrenching the state ideology of ‘Malay Muslim Monarchy’ and thus its own legitimacy. The Sultan has trenchantly rejected external rights-based criticisms and threatened domestic critics with prosecution, although implementation of the more severe provisions and punishments of the Code have been delayed. This paper discusses the legal and political implications of Brunei’s Syariah Penal Code Order. Situating the Code in the historical and political context of Islamic law in Brunei, the Code itself is described, locating it within contemporary politics. After considering the controversies the Code has provoked, the article speculates on whether it will ever be fully implemented. © 2017 Griffith University.
Routledge
10383441
English
Article

author Lindsey T.; Steiner K.
spellingShingle Lindsey T.; Steiner K.
Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013
author_facet Lindsey T.; Steiner K.
author_sort Lindsey T.; Steiner K.
title Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013
title_short Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013
title_full Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013
title_fullStr Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013
title_full_unstemmed Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013
title_sort Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013
publishDate 2016
container_title Griffith Law Review
container_volume 25
container_issue 4
doi_str_mv 10.1080/10383441.2016.1273294
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85010674408&doi=10.1080%2f10383441.2016.1273294&partnerID=40&md5=d09120f4eefcb616beefafea267d4c4a
description Efforts to expand the application of Islamic criminal law in Muslim majority states to implement hudud laws present governments with difficult choices between modern human rights norms and conservative local understandings of Islamic tradition. The governments of Muslim majority countries in Southeast Asia used to be very reluctant to embrace hudud but that has begun to change in recent decades. In Brunei, the introduction of a sweeping and conservative Syariah Penal Code Order that includes hudud punishments, such as amputation and stoning to death, has been driven by this tiny oil-rich state’s absolute monarchy. It sees the Code as further entrenching the state ideology of ‘Malay Muslim Monarchy’ and thus its own legitimacy. The Sultan has trenchantly rejected external rights-based criticisms and threatened domestic critics with prosecution, although implementation of the more severe provisions and punishments of the Code have been delayed. This paper discusses the legal and political implications of Brunei’s Syariah Penal Code Order. Situating the Code in the historical and political context of Islamic law in Brunei, the Code itself is described, locating it within contemporary politics. After considering the controversies the Code has provoked, the article speculates on whether it will ever be fully implemented. © 2017 Griffith University.
publisher Routledge
issn 10383441
language English
format Article
accesstype
record_format scopus
collection Scopus
_version_ 1809678486021865472