Diritto personale v. diritto statale. Riflessioni a partire dalla sentenza della Corte Suprema indiana del 22 agosto 2017 sul triplice ripudio

The Indian Supreme Court sentence on simultaneous triple talaq (talaq-e biddat) opens the doors to some reflections on the status of religious personal laws in a multi-confessional State whose Constitution is inspired to secularism, equality before the law and prohibition of discrimination. The uncertainty on the legal status of the religious personal laws makes it difficult for the Supreme Court to give a final decision on the acceptability of talaq. Can Sharia, even if not codified, be considered a “law” and, as such, subject to the constitutional validity test? Or must a religious personal law be first codified in order to see its rules discussed by the Supreme Court? The Indian Supreme Court judgement shows us how hard it could be to reach a shared opinion on such an important topic.