Khul' they believe to be valid reasons for divorce. Views on role of the court and judge varies across schools, depending on whether or not the divorce is considered a type of talaq (husband's repudiation of the marriage) or judicial annulment. If the husband does not consent to the divorce, a woman often goes to a mediating third party, such as an imam. Only a person versed in Islamic law i.e. a qadi, or Islamic Sharia court judge, can grant the khulʿ without the husband’s consent. When petition for khulʿ is taken to the Sharia courts, a judge is permitted to
Ban on sharia law to "a Sharia system running in parallel with UK justice." The issue arose in 2008, when the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams 'suggested it was "inevitable" that elements of Sharia would be incorporated in British law.' Since then, "Sharia courts" have "never been far from tabloid headlines", according to Myriam Francois-Cerrah. As of 2014, there were reported to be around 85 "shariah courts" in the UK, operated by two rival services – Islamic Sharia Council and the newer, smaller, less strict Muslim Arbitration Tribunal. The councils/tribunals provide arbitration that is voluntary but legally binding, are "officially mandated" and set