Friday November 14, 2008
Court merger would subject non-Muslims to syariah laws, says MCA
KUALA LUMPUR: Merging common law and syariah courts would call for non-Muslims to be subject to syariah laws.
MCA legal bureau chairman Datuk Leong Tang Chong said such a merger would subject non-Muslims to syariah jurisdiction on all legal matters, including interfaith cases related to marriage and divorce.
“To compel a non-Muslim to syariah jurisdiction is a violation of the Federal Constitution as Article 11 assures and guarantees all persons complete freedom of religion,” he said, adding that the MCA strongly objected to the proposal.
He also said the independence of civil court judges should remain within the powers of the civil courts and not be subjected to the interpretation of syariah law.
On Nov 6, retired Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad said that he foresaw the combination of the two courts would harmonise common law and syariah law principles in dealing with issues of conflicting laws and jurisdiction during his lecture at the Harvard Law School in the United States.
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