The Molla Sali case : how the European Court of Human Rights escaped a legal labyrinth while holding the thread of human rights

Abstract

Mustafa Molla Sali, a member of the Muslim minority in Thrace, Greece, passed away in 2008. Before dying he drew up a public will bequeathing the totality of his estate to his wife, in accordance with the Greek Civil Code. However, after his demise, his sisters challenged the validity of his will, by asserting that the jurisdiction of the Mufti and Sharia law should have been applied in the case under consideration, given that Mr Molla Sali was a member of the Muslim minority. On this legal basis, they had recourse to the Greek courts, claiming three-fourths of his property, on the ground that the succession law applied to Muslims is based on intestacy and an Islamic will can only complement the intestacy. Both the Court of First Instance of Rodopi and the Thrace Court of Appeal rejected their application on the basis that Mr Molla Sali was free to choose between the civil law and the Sharia law in order to arrange his last will. Otherwise, the implementation of Sharia law so as to prevent a person from disposing of his property in anticipation of death would have been an unacceptable discrimination on religious grounds. The civil Supreme Court of Greece had a different opinion. In its ruling 1862/2013, the Court decided that Mr Molla Sali was subject to Sharia law in order to determine his succession.