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Author	Dr Brooke Thompson
Organisation/Institution	The University of Queensland, TC Beirne School of Law
Country	AUSTRALIA
Panel	Legal Pluralism
Title	Islamic Inheritance in Divergent Models of Legal Pluralism: A Comparative Analysis of Australia and India
Abstract	As mobility increases across the Asia-Pacific region, this paper examines how Australia and India—both secular common law jurisdictions with Muslim minorities—address Islamic succession law through fundamentally different models of legal pluralism and explores implications for regional integration. The paper analyses two 2024 cases: Re Haliem [2024] VSC 400 (Australia) and Zoharbee v. Imam Khan [2025] INSC 1245 (India). In Re Haliem, the Victorian Supreme Court interpreted a will incorporating Islamic inheritance principles, receiving expert evidence on Islamic law while applying the relevant statutory provisions and common law principles. The Court honoured the testator's voluntary choice to adopt Islamic succession principles within Australia's framework of testamentary freedom. In contrast, the Indian Supreme Court in Zoharbee directly applied Quranic principles and classical Islamic texts, holding that a childless Muslim widow is entitled to one-quarter of her deceased husband's estate under India’s statutory system of Muslim personal law. In doing so, the Court demonstrated India's binding application of Islamic law to Muslim citizens regardless of individual preference. Through comparative doctrinal analysis, this paper argues these cases represent opposite ends of a legal pluralism spectrum: voluntary accommodation versus mandatory personal law systems. Australia maximizes testamentary autonomy, allowing Muslims to choose whether to adopt Islamic inheritance principles. India's system provides statutory certainty, with applicable succession law determined by religious identity rather than individual choice. The paper then examines how these divergent models might interact in cross-border estates. While traditional conflict of laws principles (domicile and lex situs) generally provide clear choice of law rules, tensions arise around: public policy exceptions—when should courts refuse to recognise foreign determinations based on mandatory religious law?; testamentary autonomy—how should courts address Muslims who relocate between mandatory and voluntary personal law systems?; and evidentiary standards—should courts determine Islamic legal principles through expert evidence or direct textual interpretation? These questions, inadequately addressed by existing jurisprudence, require dialogue as transnational estates multiply in an integrating Asia-Pacific region.
Biography	I am a dual-qualified legal practitioner and scholar specialising in Islamic law and legal pluralism. I hold a PhD in Islamic Law from the University of Queensland (awarded without corrections, 2021), where my dissertation examined the operation of Islamic inheritance law within Australia's secular legal framework. I am admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia. I currently serves as an External Research Fellow at the University of Queensland's Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law, where I research in the comparative law stream on legal pluralism in secular states, women and law in plural regimes, and comparative succession law. I maintain active legal practice as a Senior Associate at Jasper Fogerty Lawyers, and was named in Doyle’s Guide 2025 as a Queensland criminal law rising star. My research has been published in leading journals including the University of New South Wales Law Journal and the University of Queensland Law Journal. I was previously a Senior Policy Solicitor at the Queensland Law Society where I testified before Parliamentary committees on law reform matters.