FEATURE :: Islamic Law Lecture Series The  Program in Islamic Law hosted a stellar set of scholars and public figures in the course of this year’s Islamic Law Lectures. If you missed them, you have not missed out. The  lectures are now available online! Just visit our Vimeo page. Our featured events include: Marion Katz on Wives, Housework, and the Changing Boundary between Islamic Law and Ethics, Mohammad Fadel on Spousal Abuse and Islamic Law Reform, and a fireside chat with Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf hosted by Professor Intisar Rabb as the keynote event of the 2019 HLS Sports Law Symposium. Image credit: Program in Islamic Law

Commentary :: Right to Counsel and the Problem of Distrust Student editor Marzieh Tofighi Darian traces the evolution of the right to counsel in criminal investigations in Iran, as highlighted in the process of drafting the country’s new Criminal Procedure Code in 2014 (amended in 2015). She argues that “the legislature missed a unique chance to make up for its long-time practice of ignoring this right,” and thus “exacerbated the tenuous relationship between the judiciary and bar associations.” Read more. Image credit: Geology.com

Spotlight :: Islamic Criminal Law The SHARIAsource Portal’s collections include criminal procedure codes from different regions that use interpretations of Islamic law as a source of legislation. For example, Iran recently enacted parliamentary revisions to its code . Indonesian-Aceh criminal laws came into force around the same time, including the procedures at the sharīʿa court of first instance . Fifteen years earlier, state councils in Northern Nigeria passed criminal procedure codes as well–now analyzed by a team of Nigerian and international scholars. Together, these new codes suggest a growing appeal of sharīʿa in criminal law. Image credit: The Conversation/Shutterstock

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