Professor Paul Robinson's fall seminar at the University of Pennsylvania Law School offered a unique opportunity for ambitious students: a chance to make law, rather than just study it.
But there was a catch. The students' client would be a regime that has outlawed dissent, jailed pro-democracy demonstrators and been accused by Amnesty International of "endemic torture and unfair trials."
As part of a project sponsored by the UN, the class's sole task would be to craft an updated crime code for the Republic of Maldives, an island nation of 278,000 people in the Indian Ocean.
The code was to be based on the Shariah, a body of Islamic law that fundamentalist nations have used to subjugate women, crush free religious expression and impose personal behavior laws criminalizing homosexuality, alcohol consumption and sex outside marriage.
To third-year law student Tom Stenson, the challenge was too important to pass up.
"Is there a way to convince people that there is an Islamic alternative that doesn't include all the unpleasant practices? I think so," he said. "The criminal code that we'd like to present will comply with human rights norms. It will treat men and women equally. I don't think any of us would stand by and create a document that could be used for repression."
Fifty students applied for a seat in the class. Eighteen were accepted and have been immersed in the project for several weeks. The students work with high-ranking Maldivian officials, and their final draft will be submitted to the country's parliament.
So far, many of the issues they tackled differ little from what they might encounter while streamlining laws in the West.
Stenson has been working on theft and kidnapping statutes. Other students have been codifying laws regarding fraud, forgery and rules on criminal culpability.
In interviews, several students said they have found little in Islamic law that requires the strict enforcement of centuries-old social norms favored by some Muslim scholars, and much in it that promotes social justice.
Their work doesn't sit well with everyone.
Daniel Pipes, head of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum and a presidential appointee to the US Institute of Peace, said it was a mistake for the class to do anything that could help prop up Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the dictator who has ruled Maldives since 1978.
"It's like working on the criminal law in Saddam Hussein's Iraq," Pipes said.
Pipes, a critic of militant Islam, called the Shariah incompatible with many Western values, including freedom of religion, gender equality and the separation of church and state. He said it should be rejected as a source of state law, "not made prettier."
The criticism hasn't deterred Robinson, who sat on the US Sentencing Commission and has helped several nations revise their legal systems.
He said the brand of Islamic law practiced in Maldives is a far cry from the systems imposed in Saudi Arabia or under the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"Maldivians stopped using the death penalty half a century ago. They don't cut off the hands of thieves. They don't have public stoning of adulterers," he said.
"It is probably true that there are going to be differences we don't approve of, but what you have to understand is they were the ones who decided who to approach, and they approached us. That choice, by itself, tells you where they are headed."
He said he expects to present a draft code to Maldives by the end of November.
Whether it is ever implemented could depend on the resolution of evolving political tensions in the nation, which is 300 miles off the coast of India.
On Aug. 13, security forces cracked down after 3,000 pro-democracy demonstrators rallied in the capital.
The European Parliament called for sanctions last month to protest the clampdown.
Gayoom has insisted he is serious about reform, including constitutional changes that would allow people to join opposition parties.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number