Sharia councils in the UK will frequently ask people to sign an agreement to abide by their decisions: councils call themselves courts and the presiding imams are judges, there is neither control over the appointment of these judges nor an independent monitoring mechanism, people often do not have access to legal advice and representation, proceedings are not recorded, nor are there any searchable legal judgments, nor is there any real right to appeal.
via:[http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/jul/05/sharia-law-religious-courts]