Moldavia is on the right track. Be patient.

Submitted by Adam Cole (Canada), Jul 26, 2004 at 11:48

In this case I respectfully disagree with Dr. Pipes. Although it would be great to see the Maldives adopt a Western style Code of Law, it is highly unlikely that such an enterprise would be fruitful. (Imagine Iran trying to make the radical switch to Western Law.) I think humanitizing and Westernizing Shari'a is a good start, and most importantly a practical and recognizable start. If successful it can also serve as a beacon to other Muslim countries flirting with modernizing their judicial systems. However any such country is not likely to look to Moldavia for guidance if the Moldavian judicial system is radically different and/or strictly Western based.

The Muslim countries of the Middle East, Africa, SE Asia, I guess pretty much everywhere except Turkey are centuries behind the Western world with respect to humanitarian and democratic/individual freedoms. It is unrealistic to imagine that these countries could readily transition to a Western judicial system. Consequently I believe we should embrace Moldavia's steps to reform, despite the obvious limitations, and then direct our energies to encouraging similar reforms within other Muslim countries.

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