No Shari`ah Court for Malaysia Non-Muslims

Malaysia's top court ruled that legal cases involving non-Muslims do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Shari`ah Courts

"They (non-Muslims) can't be present to defend themselves in the Shari`ah courts," said Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad.

The Federal Court ruled that civil courts have jurisdiction in disputes between a Muslim and a non-Muslim on family and Islamic matters.

Justice Abdul Hamid said the parliament must resolve the jurisdiction tussle between civil and Shari`ah courts.

"Without enacted laws, there is no jurisdiction by both courts."

He said that unlike the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal and High Court, the Shari`ah court was not created by the Constitution.

"In fact, the position of the Shari`ah court is similar to the Sessions court and magistrate’s court. The constitution refers to them as inferior courts."

Justice Abdul Hamid said the state legislature has the right to determine the jurisdiction of the Shari`ah court.

"The Shari`ah courts will have no jurisdiction if the state legislature did not pass an enactment to give them the power."

Welcomed

The Federal Court's verdict was met be immediate applause.

"It is also a strong statement on the supremacy of the constitution," said counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.

He added that the verdict would help resolve many issues that caused controversy in the past years.

In May, Christian convert Lina Joy lost a legal battle to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card.

In delivering judgment in that case, the chief justice said the issue of apostasy was related to Islamic law and civil courts could not intervene.

Such people often end up in legal limbo.

Race and religion are touchy issues in multi-racial Malaysia, where ethnic Malays form about 60 percent of a population of roughly 26 million, while Hindus, Buddhists and Christians dominate the ethnic Indian and Chinese minorities.

A Malay is defined in the Constitution as "a person who professes the religion of Islam."