29. Syariah-Civil Court Jurisdiction

Any further action on the judiciary’s call for Parliament to resolve the question of jurisdiction between the civil and syariah courts lies in the hands of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said.

“The matter is for the Prime Minister to consult with the component parties in Barisan Nasional. I will also refer the matter to the Attorney General,” said the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

He was asked if the Government would take up the call by the Federal Court in re Latifah Mat Zin on Wednesday.

“These are not matters that the courts can solve as the courts owe their jurisdiction to statutes,” Federal Court Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamed said.

In his judgment, endorsed by Federal Court Justices Arifin Zakaria and Augustine Paul, he asked Parliament to step in “to decide as a matter of policy what should be the solution and legislate accordingly.”

Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan said there have been an increasing number of family disputes affecting Muslims and non-Muslims that overlap both jurisdictions.

“This decision brings about some certainty (and with that less anxiety and anguish to Muslims and non-Muslims) as to where parties may go to pursue their legal remedies,” said Ambiga, in commending the court for emphasising the importance of acting in conformity with the Federal Constitution.

While clarifying some issues, she said the Federal Court had noted there could be situations where there may be matters outside the jurisdiction of both courts, resulting in no available remedy in either court.

“This has to be comprehensively addressed either by the courts or by Parliament as suggested in the judgment.”

Asked whether the Backbenchers’ Club would raise the issue in Parliament, BBC chairman Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar said that if the Prime Minister and Government decided to amend the law, they would debate the bill when it was tabled.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said they did not have the numbers to take the initiative but they would press the Government and Parliament to follow up on the suggestion.

“There has been a lot of unhappiness, anxiety and uncertainty; there was a demarcation of jurisdiction between the civil and syariah courts but it seems to have led to a loss of powers for the civil court,” he added - by SHAILA KOSHY, The Star.