No Sharia Act: Bill Bans Foreign Law in U.S. Courts, Focusing on Constitutional Rights in Family Cases

This legislation, officially titled the "No Sharia Act," aims to reinforce the supremacy of the U.S. Constitution by explicitly barring American courts and arbitrators from enforcing any ruling based even partially on foreign law—including religious codes like Sharia—if that ruling violates a person’s fundamental constitutional rights. The core idea (Sec. 2, Sec. 3) is to make sure that in every courtroom, from federal to local, decisions are based only on Federal and State laws, ensuring consistent protection of rights like due process and equal protection.

The Constitutional Override Switch

Think of this as a constitutional override switch for the legal system. If you’re involved in a court case, the judge cannot enforce a decision—whether it came from a foreign court or a private arbitrator—if that decision was based on a foreign legal system and clashes with your rights here (Sec. 5). This is meant to protect everyday people from having their rights eroded by external legal codes that don't align with U.S. standards. For instance, if a foreign law mandated unequal property rights during a divorce, a U.S. court could not enforce that part of the ruling.

Where Contracts Get Complicated

Normally, if two parties sign a business contract and agree to be governed by, say, the laws of Germany or the U.K., that’s generally fine. This Act acknowledges that, but adds a major caveat: a court can step in and ignore that contractual choice if enforcing the foreign law would violate someone’s constitutional rights (Sec. 5). While this protects fundamental rights, it introduces a layer of uncertainty for international commerce and business contracts that rely on predictable choice-of-law clauses. If you’re a small business owner dealing with international suppliers, this means your contract’s choice of law isn’t absolute if a conflict arises in a U.S. court.

The Tight Focus on Family Law

The rules get significantly tighter when it comes to personal matters (Sec. 5). In cases involving marriage, divorce, child custody, adoption, or inheritance, courts are flat-out prohibited from using or enforcing any foreign law if it conflicts with fundamental rights or established public policy. This is a clear move to ensure that sensitive family decisions are always judged by U.S. standards, offering protection for the most vulnerable parties, like children or spouses. For example, if a parent who emigrated here attempted to use a foreign law that severely restricted the other parent’s custody rights based on gender, the court must reject that foreign law entirely.

The Implementation Challenge

To make sure this works uniformly across all 50 states, the Attorney General is tasked with writing the official rules and creating training materials for judges and court staff (Sec. 6). The bill takes effect 180 days after becoming law (Sec. 8). The challenge here lies in the broad definition of "foreign law" (Sec. 4), which covers any non-U.S. legal system, including religious ones. While the stated purpose is safeguarding constitutional rights, the specific targeting of Sharia law in the bill’s title and findings suggests a focus that could complicate legitimate international legal cooperation and raise concerns for religious or cultural groups whose traditions often intersect with civil law matters.