| The English Legal System And The Arab Community In The UK By HH Judge Eugene Cotran
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| The saying “When in Rome do as the Romans do” has become outmoded in the new international world of today. The days when Rome was inhabited by Romans only have gone. In a country like the UK - which itself has two systems of law - (English and Scottish), and which is one of the principal centers of commerce and trade and which, with Commonwealth and other immigration, has changed from a remote uni ethnic community to a multiethnic and multinational community, it is inevitable that so far as the law is concerned, its application to foreigners and immigrant communities, must give way to their different customs, religions and laws. |
| In my lecture today I shall deal with how the English legal system has been able to cope and adapt to deal with its resident Arab Community and conversely with how the Arab community should itself cope and adapt its strict laws and customs so that a harmonious legal relationship can be achieved between the two systems. |
| I start by emphasizing some basic features of the English legal system and English law which to many Arabs seem perplexing at first sight: |
| (1) No codes. Unlike European systems of law and indeed most systems in the world, English law is not codified - we do not have a Criminal Code or a civil code or a commercial code. English law is based principally on case-law which has developed through the centuries - it is known as the Common law and is to be found in volumes and volumes of law Reports. We have a system of Precedent by which a lower court is bound by a decision of a higher court. We have of course Acts of parliament - STATUTES, which may supplement or modify the common law, but with few exceptions these are not wholesale codifications. Even where you have exceptionally a codification or a Statute dealing with one subject, the emphasis is not on the code or Statute, but the cases. The tradition, training and method of the English lawyer is the law is cited or referred to having regard to the cases decided rather than by reference to the Section of the statute. If you should go into an English court, you will find counsel armed - not with the statute, but with a multitude of volumes of Law Reports which he cites to the Judge in an attempt to persuade him that the case is applicable to the dispute or if it is against his client, distinguishable. |
| (2) Courts. We distinguish in England between the criminal courts and the civil courts. |
| (a) Criminal courts at the lowest tier consist of |
| (i) Magistrates of 2 types - stipendiary Magistrates who are trained lawyers and sit alone full time; or Justices of the Peace - who sit on a Bench of 3 part-time - they are not qualified lawyers, but have a qualified clerk to advise them on the law. They are respected members of the community appointed by the Lord chancellor and are not paid. Magistrates, jurisdiction is limited to hearing small criminal cases - imprisonment up to 1 year. |
| (ii) Crown Courts are the next tier - Judge sits with a jury of 12 - he deals with the law, and sums up; the jury deal with the evidence or facts and pronounce on guilt or otherwise - Majority Verdicts are acceptable 10/2. Sentence is for the Judge. |
| Essential features of our criminal justice system are: |
| (1) The right to be tried by a jury, however trivial the offence. |
| (2) The burden of proof is on the prosecution - the jury must be SURE or have no reasonable doubts. |
| (3) Right to silence - though there is now legislation to water this down. |
| (4) Presentation of Evidence orally and cross-examination of witnesses - i.e. an Adversarial system, rather than Accusatorial. |
| (b) Civil Courts: There is no jury in civil cases except in cases of defamation. Civil tier system is: |
| (1) District Judges - jurisdiction up to 5,0001. |
| (2) County Court Judges - jurisdiction up to 50,0001. |
| (3) High Court Judges - jurisdiction up to over 50,0001. |
| Appeals from crown courts, County courts, high court go to COURT OF APPEAL - then in strictly important cases, or involving public interest, to the HOUSE OF LORDS (Judicial Committee). |
| Judges in England are independent and are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Lord chancellor. |
| (4) LEGAL PROFESSION: One of the features which strikes an Arab as very odd in the English legal system is its legal profession divided into solicitors and Barristers - Usual comment is “why have 2 lawyers when I need only one”. Reasons are historical but can be justified on the basis that though more costly, they perform different functions and some say (though I don't myself subscribe to this) in the better interests of the client. |
| Solicitors - generally are the lawyers to whom the client must first go - he contracts with them - they are under the general jurisdiction of the LAW SOCIETY and have a different training from Barristers - After the Law Degree and professional school they do “Articles” i.e. training with another Solicitor for 2 1/2 years. They can practice alone or in partnership - so that you have the small firm, medium size and very large firms - the larger and more senior the solicitor - the more you pay. They are not trained to be advocates - but they do appear in lower courts. |
| Barristers are reputedly the higher profession - “learned in the law”?; they appear as Advocates in the higher courts. They join one of the 4 Inns of court and have dinners and come under the jurisdiction of the General council of the Bar. After their law degree and professional school, they train by way of “pupilage” with a barrister for one year in a set of “Chambers”. Barristers cannot form partnerships; each practices alone but they have a common CLERK. They are not allowed to negotiate fees - clerk does it and gets a %. He negotiates with the Solicitor not the client. |
| Senior barristers become QC's or “take silk” because they wear a silk gown. Broadly His means they charge more - Judges are selected from Barristers. It is all very costly to the client, especially if he has a serious case. |
| Legal Aid can be obtained - but you must be rather poor to qualify. In the last 10 years. Attempts to fuse the system: |
| (1) Some Solicitors can appear in High court. |
| (2) Common training being discussed. |
| (3) Solicitors can now become Judges. |
| (4) Barristers can get instructions from Institutions, and there is talk of Partnerships. |
| * * * |
| SPECIFIC PROBLEM AREAS FOR ARABS |
| I - IMMIGRATION II FAMILY LAW |
| I - Immigration Law |
| Until the mid 1960's there was hardly any Immigration law in this country. Tightening up started with the influx of Africans and Asians from the commonwealth culminating in the Immigration Act of 1971 which brought in a whole new system of immigration law, virtually closing the door to free commonwealth immigration and introducing a scheme of appeals from Immigration Decisions of the Home Office to Adjudicators and Tribunals. |
| The system has changed from time to time, the latest Immigration Rules will come into force on 1st October of this year. Entrants are categorized under various headings - you can be a (1) VISITOR or (2) a Student coming for a temporary stay or - you can be a Person coming for a longer period for (3) employment or for (4) Business or (5) as a Person of Independent Means or as the (6) Spouse, child or other relative of a person settled here or finally (7) as an Asylum seeker or Refugee. Each category has its detailed rules for entry under the Immigration Rules. |
| All Arabs need to have VISAS for the Purpose of entry except citizens of UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait do not need visas to come as visitors. |
| (a) Visitors: Must be genuine who will go back at the end of their stay which must not exceed 6 months. Medical visitors can stay longer. |
| (b) Students: Must be accepted at a genuine educational establishment for a course of study - full time, he must be able to pay the fees and maintain himself and go back at the end of his studies. |
| VISITORS and Students cannot switch status. Must return to their country at the end of the visit or the completion of their studies. |
| (C) Employment: With few exceptions you must have a WORK PERMIT issued by Dept of Employment - special skill and expertise needed. Basically must demonstrate that person settled here or in European Community can't do the job. Main exceptions. |
| (1) Sole reps of overseas firms. |
| (2) Private servants in a diplomatic household. |
| (3) Reps of overseas newspapers and broadcasting organizations. |
| (4) Overseas Government Employees. |
| (5) Ministers of Religion. |
| (6) Airport staff. |
| (d) Business and Self Employment: The principal requirement is that you must have 200,000 to invest in the business. |
| (e) INVESTOR - A new category from 14 October: |
| (1) Must have 1 million in UK. |
| (2) Must invest 750,000 of it in certain UK Securities. |
| (3) You must make the UK your “main home”. |
| (f) Person of Independent Means: Under the old rules, you had to have 200,000 or income of 120,000. |
| (1) As from 1st October income of 25,000 only. Capital requirement of 200,000 has gone. You must, however, have a close connection with the UK. |
| (2) Must be at least 60. |
| (3) Must be Retired. |
| (4) Main home must be in UK. |
| (g) Wives and Children: Can come - if dependent - Children must be under 18. |
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Spouses:
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| (1) Not under 16 on date of arrival. |
| (2) If polygamous can bring one only. |
| (h) Asylum Seekers: UK adheres to UN convention on Status of Refugees. Basically if seek asylum will not be returned to a country in which his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his RACE, RELIGION, NATIONALITY, POLITICAL OPINION or MEMBERSHIP OF A PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUP - but can be returned to a SAFE COUNTRY who will consider his application if he came via that country. |
| Distinguish with countries with CIVIL STRIFE - Lebanon in civil War - Exceptional Leave to Remain. Granted instead of Asylum. |
| Apart from visitors and students, people in other categories after stay of 4 years can apply for PERMANENT RESIDENCE or INDEFINITE leave to remain. |
| After a five year stay they can apply for NATURALISATION. Once you are a British citizen you cannot be deported but all others are subject to Deportation if the Home Secretary considers that their Stay is not conducive to the public good or if they have overstayed. Illegal entrants or entrants by deception are summarily returned without the necessity of a deportation order. |
| As I have said, immigration decisions are appealable to an Adjudicator, then to a Tribunal and in cases turning on a point of law to the court of Appeal. Where no appeal lies and a decision can be shown to be perverse or illogical, Judicial review is open in the High court. |
| A word about Legal Advice re Immigration matters. There are good Solicitors and Barristers who specialize. If you are poor UK Immigrants Advisory services and law centers give free advice. |
| CAUTION: |
| (1) Do Not Go To Quacks Who call the loes “Consuctanis”: lots of them around. Can even get you a fake stamp. |
| (2) Do not lie - it does not pay. |
| (3) Do not ask friends who know nothing about it - experience of others are never the same. |
| * * * |
| II - MARRIAGE DIVORCE etc. |
| Arabs who settle here do not suddenly become Englishmen. The great majority are Muslims and carry their personal religious law with them. Can they marry in the UK under their own law? Can they divorce under their own law? How are their matrimonial rights relating to property and children determined? What is the jurisdiction of the courts? These are difficult questions and are generally dealt with under a subject known as the “conflict of laws” or “private international law”. |
| DOMICILE |
| In most countries of the world, the answer is provided by the nationality of the parties or in matters of personal law by their religion. But the English - as with many other things - are different. In most instances of personal status and family relations the appropriate legal system chosen is the law of the DOMICILE of the parties. DOMICILE in this context of English law does not mean - as in French or - residence. It is a peculiarly English concept subject to detailed rules, but which may be summarized thus: |
| (i) Every person must be regarded as domiciled in a single place with a separate legal system so that he may be treated as 'connected' to that system for certain purposes. Since Britain does not have a single legal system a person would have to be domiciled in, say, England and Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland. |
| (ii) At birth a legitimate child automatically acquires the domicile of its father while an illegitimate child automatically takes its mother's domicile. This 'domicile of origin' is usually retained until the age of 16 at least. |
| (iii) Anyone over the age of 16 can acquire a domicile of choice which will supplant his domicile of origin. To do this he must take up residence in a country with a separate legal system and intend to remain there permanently or at any rate indefinitely. If he only intends to stay there for a limited purpose or time no fresh domicile will have been acquired. He may well, however, be treated as 'habitually resident' there if he regards the place as his home or base and he has some reasonably durable ties there. While it seems probable that many Arabs who have been accepted for settlement in this country are also domiciled here, there must still be large numbers who intend to return to their countries of origin, either when they have enough money to enable them to accomplish certain economic objectives there, or when they retire from work here or when they feel their lives drawing to a close. |
| (iv) Since 1974 a married woman has been capable of retaining and acquiring her own separate domicile, regardless of the domicile of her husband. If spouses are living together they will, however, normally have the same domicile. |
| (v) There is obviously no necessary coincidence between a person's domicile (or permanent home) and his nationality, which will normally have been acquired through birth, descent or registration. Nationality reflects a person's political rather than civil status and involves allegiance to a particular state. |
| Contracting of Marriage |
| If a marriage is contracted abroad in an Arab country by parties who are domiciled in that country, the general rule is that it will be recognized in England if the parties come to live here. This question arose in 1965 in a case called CHENI V CHENI involving an uncle and a niece validly married by Jewish rites in Egypt, their country of domicile. The validity of their marriage was questioned some 30 years after their marriage when they came to England and acquired a domicile of choice here. In England such a wife was within the prohibited degrees of relationship. The marriage was held to be valid here - the Judge saying that the true test was. |
| 'whether the marriage is so offensive to the conscience of the English court that it should refuse to recognize and give effect to the proper foreign law. In deciding that question the court will seek to exercise common sense, good manners and a reasonable tolerance. In my view it would be altogether too queasy a judicial conscience which would recoil from a marriage acceptable to many peoples of deep religious convictions, lofty ethical standards and high civilization'. |
| The same rule applies to the contracting of a marriage with a girl under 16. This arose in England in 1969 in a case called Alhaji Mohd v Knott - a Nigerian Muslim who contracted marriage with a girl of 13 in Nigeria. The couple came here - husband had VD and went for medical treatment - introduced his wife - doctor was concerned and reported it to police who applied to the Juvenile Court that she should be put into care - Juvenile court concluded that the girl was in moral danger saying. |
| 'Here is a girl, aged 13, or possibly less, unable to speak English, living in London with a man twice her age to whom she has been married by Muslim law. He admits having had sexual intercourse with her at a time when according to the medical evidence the development of puberty had almost certainly not begun.. He further admits that since the marriage which took place as recently as January of this year, he has had sexual relations with a prostitute in Nigeria from whom he has contracted venereal disease. In our opinion a continuance of such an association, notwithstanding the marriage, would be repugnant to any decent-minded English man or woman. Our decision reflects that repugnance'. |
| On appeal, the decision was reversed - Lord Parker CJ said: 'I would never dream of suggesting that a decision by this bench of justices with this very experienced chairman, could ever be termed perverse: but having said that, I am convinced that they have misdirected themselves. When they say that “a continuance of such an association notwithstanding the marriage would be repugnant to any decent-minded English man or woman”, they are I think, and can only be, considering the view of an English man or woman in relation to an English girl and our Western way of life. I cannot myself think that decent-minded English men or women, realizing the way of life in which this girl was brought up, and this man for that matter, would inevitably say that this is repugnant. It is certainly natural for a girl to marry at that age. They develop sooner, and there is nothing abhorrent in their way of life for a girl of 13 to marry a man of 25.. Granted that this man may be said to be a bad lot, that he has done things in the past which perhaps nobody would approve of, it does not follow from that that this girl, happily married to this man, is under any moral danger by associating and living with him. For my part, as it seems to me, it could only be said that she was in moral danger if one was considering somebody brought up and living in our way of life, and to hold that she is in moral danger in the circumstances of this case can only be arrived at, as it seems to me, by ignoring the way of life in which she was brought up, and her husband was brought up'. |
| I must emphasize this would not apply if the marriage was contracted here - since it would de VOID. Again, you can't bring a spouse if under 16 as the rule of immigration law forbids that - Nor can you bring a spouse where the parties have not Met. |
| Polygamy |
| English concept of marriage is the - VOLUNTARY UNION OF ONE MAN TO ONE WOMAN FOR LIFE TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALL OTHERS i.e. MONOGAMY. IF go to REGISTRY OFFICE - this is in big CAPITALS - It is what Registrar says. Can't therefore contract a polygamous marriage if you become domiciled here. Question is if you are Not domiciled here - can you contract polygamous marriage outside England or by Islamic law here which would be recognized here. |
| As far back as 1866, in a case called Hyde V Hyde, Lord Penzance said that Polygamy is a concept which English courts cannot understand and will not recognize for purposes of giving matrimonial relief. Throughout the years this dictum has been watered down to recognize polygamous marriages by a foreign domiciliary for most purposes. |
| (1) After 1972, by the Matrimonial Proceedings (Polygamous Marriages) Act, an English Court can grant to a polygamous wife all the relief's available - to a monogamous wife. |
| (2) Children of a polygamous marriage are legitimate and can succeed to property. |
| (3) Wives of a polygamous marriage can succeed to property. |
| (4) Property rights can be asserted by a polygamous wife egg under Married Women's Property Act and Matrimonial Causes Act. |
| (5) Social Security is available to a polygamous spouse. |
| (6) For tax purposes a polygamous wife ranks the same as a monogamous wife. |
| Only two impediments are left: |
| (1) Immigration - as already mentioned above - one wife only can come to the UK. Children of a polygamous wife can't come either. |
| (2) Cannot enter into polygamous marriage in England, if you are clomiciled in by bud and if you do, you may be guilty of the criminal offence of bigamy. |
| DIVORCE |
| JURISDICTION of the Courts in divorce matters is based on: |
| (a) DOMICILE; or |
| (b) HABITUAL RESIDENCE for one year. |
| In England if you want to divorce you must go to court - no such thing as an extra-judicial divorce. As we all know, all Arab countries allow Muslims to pronounce Talaq without court intervention and is most Arab countries without proceedings of any kind. If the divorce is obtained abroad e.g. in an Arab country will it be recognized in England? This is now answered by legislation introduced in England in 1971, viz: |
| (1) Divorce is valid if obtained in country of domicile of both parties and recognized there. |
| (2) Irrespective of domicile, valid if obtained by judicial or other proceeding in country of which either spouse normally resident or national of. |
| All subject to 2 exceptions. |
| (1) You must give NOTICE to other party. |
| (2) Other party must be given opportunity to take part in proceedings. |
| Children - In English law, the welfare of a child shall be the first and paramount consideration and the court shall not take into consideration any “superior” right asserted by the father or mother. |
| This creates a direct conflict between English law and Islamic law gives the father superior rights over children. Problems of “kidnapping” children especially with mixed marriages have arisen. Hague Convention of 1982 tries to solve the problem. Unfortunately, no Arab country is party to it. |
| Wills |
| Conflicts between English law and Islamic law also arise in wills - Islamic law prescribes that you cannot will more than 1/3rd of your property. Not so in English law - Therefore in matters of personal status, take advice. |
| FROM EXPERTS |
| NOT FROM FRIENDS |
| NOT FROM QUACKS |
| ROLE OF ARAB COMMUNITY |
| It is a matter of considerable regret that the Arab Community in the UK has not organized itself yet in playing an effective role in helping its own community in legal matters, nor in playing an effective role in participating in or influencing legal policy and decisions even when these matters intimately affect their own laws and customs. |
| One of the greatest problems is one of statistics. The English Survey of Statistics, whether made for Census purposes or Labour purposes by the DEP or through Home Office Statistics are wildly wrong according to research carried out by Dr Madawi Al-Rashid in a very interesting Article entitled “INVISIBLE AND DIVIDED COMMUNITIES: ARABS IN BRITAIN”. Nor are figures provided by individual Information offices of various Arab Countries reliable since they depend very much on nationals who register with them. Dr Al-Rashid's estimate of Arab immigrants is over 250,000 which she divides in four categories: |
| (1) Wealthy Migrants (Independent Means; Investors). |
| (2) Professional - Doctors, journalists, engineers (Employed and self employed). |
| (3) Migrant Workers - workers in hotel, catering and cleaning services. |
| (4) Refugees. |
| The problem of organization was not seriously addressed until the Second ARAB COMMUNITIES conference held in November 1993 - last year and jointly sponsored by the ARAB CLUB of BRITAIN and the League of Arab States office. It was a great success and put forward various Recommendations viz: |
| 1. To establish the “Arab House” as it was evident that this is a prime issue requiring efforts to realize. The other recommendations would remain limited in effect, if not fruitless, unless there is an actual base from which the various activities are directed. The conference, therefore, calls upon Arab organizations, financiers and businessmen to contribute to the realization of this fundamental ambition by assisting the company which is being established to achieve this goal. |
| 2. To stimulate and strengthen the participation of Arabs in British public life, whether individually or collectively, making proper use of the channels available to them. Such participation would be supported and helped by friendship organizations and the Middle East councils within the British political parties. |
| 3. To form a committee to advise on local and general elections and to create an appropriate mechanism to encourage members of the Arab communities to participate in these elections. |
| 4. To establish an advisory centre to provide information and advice to the Arab communities in the fields of law, housing, health, education, employment, training,… etc. |
| 5. To prepare a comprehensive study of the services, specially in the field of community care currently provided by the local authorities but must be contracted out by 1997. The aim is to examine the possibility of incorporating commercial entities to provide such services for members of the Arab communities. |
| 6. To procure the official documents containing the general EC directives to member states regarding ethnic communities residing within these states. This is in order that the Arab communities may benefit from the social, educational, cultural and health rights and services which the EC is promoting. |
| 7. To form local committees to serve the local Arab communities and encourage their participation in local and legislative institutions. |
| 8. To form an Arabic research commission spanning several disciplines to lead research into matters concerning the Arab communities in the United Kingdom. |
| 9. To establish an Arab Data Bank to provide Arab organizations with the statistics and data needed to develop their work. |
| 10. To prepare and publish an Arab Directory which would list Arab institutions, organizations, etc.. in the United Kingdom. |
| 11. To liaise with the authorities responsible for designing census forms and request that these forms be structures so as to give accurate figures and clear data about the Arab communities in the United Kingdom; such data would be helpful in programming activities aiming to serve and develop these communities. |
| 12. To prepare training courses for Arabic language teachers and organize periodic meetings of teachers to exchange and coordinate views and experience in this field. |
| 13. To entrust suitable qualified people to prepare curricula for the teaching of Arabic language and religious education; to prepare children's books which meet the needs of the new generations of Arabs growing outside the countries of their origins; to convene a conference to debate Arabic language teaching needs. |
| 14. To organize in conjunction with one of the universities a conference on the teaching of Arabic and Islamic studies to be attended by teachers from institutions which are engaged in this task in the United Kingdom. |
| 15. To cooperate with British educational and cultural institutions to ensure that Arab as well as other children are informed about Arab culture and heritage and to present a positive image of Arab culture to the public in general. |
| 16. To encourage and stimulate various Arab youth activities in the United Kingdom, including summer camps, and encourage participation in summer camps within the Arab worked; to hold a conference to discuss the problems facing Arab youth with a view to making practical recommendations and proposals in this respect. |
| 17. To establish a national voluntary body to coordinate information and formulate policies and formulate policies and strategies to generally present a positive image of the Arab people and communities to the public by creating ways and means of establishing good relations with the media, enlisting the help of competent, articulate and well motivated volunteers to take in television and radio programs and debates, write to the press and generally deal with matters of public relations. |
| 18. To invite the Arab communities conference to convene every two years and establish from its participants a “Permanent council” of no more than 120 members inclusive of the members of the consultative body, which met last June 1993, plus additional members to ensure wider participation of the principal organizations and institutions of the Arab communities. This Permanent council would meet every six months and would establish a follow-up and coordination committee of 5 to 10 members. This committee would meet periodically to follow up implementation of the conference recommendations and report to the Permanent council”. |
| “The conference has made considerable effort and taken significant steps along the road towards expressing the aspirations of the Arab communities in Britain. It is a difficult task that requires unity in the ranks, sound objectives and the extension of a helping hand from the many, so that we may develop the Arab communities and create a solid framework for its activities and welfare. |
| We seek through this effort a greater cooperation and solidarity from those who are able to give. Duty demands that an objective and constructive dialogue is established between members of the Arab communities in order to go beyond the rhetoric and put into effect what is in the long run in the best interest of the Arab communities in Britain and their welfare”. |
| I sincerely hope that these Recommendations will be translated into reality and the sooner the better. |
| Going to the legal field. |
| We find a similar lack of organization. There is some, but very little, participation by the Arab Community in the practical side of the law, though there has been academic activity by British Institutes. At SOAS we have CIMEL (centre of Islamic and Middle East Law), an organization dedicated to the study and research of Middle Eastern and Islamic law. |
| We have practical activities which consists of the Middle East legal practitioners Forum together with the Institute of Advance Legal Studies. We have had successful conferences, seminars and other activities. Recently the law Society has established a Middle East Law Council. Publishers have a growing interest in the Middle East and Islamic Law. A Series has been established by GRAHAM & TROTMAN and there is an ARAB Law Quarterly and a planned Year Book of Middle East and Islamic Law. CONSULTANTS in Arab Law have multiplied in recent years and carry out an invaluable service to the commercial community and to English Courts as experts. All to the good - but still to this day no local Arab organization to deal with practical problems of the community, There is only one Arab Judge and one Arab Magistrate. There are perhaps two dozen solicitors, I dozen Barristers and one Qc. |
| Time has come to set up - either as part of the Recommendations of the of the Conference or separately an ARAB LAWYERS SOCIETY to fulfill this role - the role of influencing policy legal decisions affecting the community - and serving the community. |
| I'll give an example. |
| In 1991 the Lord chancellor set up an ETHNIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE of the JUDICIAL STUDIES BOARD to advise on the training of all who sit in a judicial capacity - judges, magistrates etc., so that they may have the necessary information and understanding of minority ethnic groups. If one looks at the Membership of the Committee - 18 - there is not a single Arab. |
| If one looks at their training materials and statistics, they deal with. |
| - AFRO-CARIBBEANS |
| - SOUTH ASIANS |
| INDIANS |
| ASIANS FROM EAST AFRIC |
| PAKISTANTS |
| BANGLADESHIS |
| - AFRICANS |
| NIGERIANS |
| GHANIANS |
| - CHINESE |
| - MALAYSIANS |
| - Even Greeks and Turks get a mention - but you'd be hard put to find a word of the ARAB COMMUNITY - which is normally included under the heading “OTHER”. |
| In my judgment, the reason for this is not that we don't exist - nor that the legal establishment don't know of our existence - but that no organized group had made the necessary representations that the ARAB COMMUNITY, which number some 250,000 ought to have its proper place on that ADVISORY COMMITTEE and I hope on all similar bodies. The voice of the Arab community I repeat can only be heard by organization and participation in policy making bodies in the UK and I end by a call to that end in the legal field. |
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