Examine the effects of religious and secular law on the governing institutions of one state.

The question requires that candidates consider the interrelationship between the effects of religious and secular law on the governing institutions of one state. These may include: a monarchy, a council of nobles, a caliphate, the court of an emperor or a judicial system and they may be either or both secular and religious. Reference may be made to the impact of changes to laws governing the taxation and inheritance of land in Norman England; the development and application of Sharia Law in the ‘Abbasid dynasty; the development and application of customary law in the kingdom of Benin. For effects, candidates may consider rivalry that may have existed between institutions that promoted religious above secular laws or vice versa and how these may have impacted the evolution of governing institutions. A relative increase or reduction in the authority of the state or of a religious hierarchy may be considered or, for example, the impact such institutions may then have had upon the lives of subjects or religious communities. Candidates’ opinions and conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

The question required that candidates consider the interrelationship between the effects of religious and secular law on the governing institutions of one state. There were very few responses seen.