5 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Report on states' competency to enact Islamic laws presented to rulers
Religious affairs minister Na'im Mokhtar said the report was presented to the Conference of Rulers at their 269th meeting last week. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA : The findings of a study on the competency of state assemblies to enact Islamic laws under state enactments has been presented to the rulers, says religious affairs minister Na'im Mokhtar.
Na'im said the report prepared by a special committee had been presented to the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs (MKI) chaired by Perak's Sultan Nazrin Shah on July 1.
It was also presented to the Conference of Rulers when it held its 269th meeting on July 16, he said in a written parliamentary reply.
The report followed studies, discussions and engagements with the various states' head of shariah courts, muftis, Islamic councils as well as representatives from Islamic institutions and other religions.
Na'im said the recommendations outlined in the special committee's report will first be studied by the government before further action is taken, partly to look into the need for legal amendments to be tabled in Parliament.
'This is to ensure that every legal amendment enacted, especially those that touches on federal and state jurisdictions, are clear, organised and in line with the Federal Constitution, other laws that are in force, and shariah laws.
'This is to ensure that the amendments are legitimate and will not be questioned by any party once it comes to effect,' he said.
The minister said recommendations involving matters under Putrajaya's jurisdiction will first be brought to the Cabinet.
Recommendations involving matters under the purview of the respective states are subject to the agreement of the state governments, he added.
In August 2023, then MKI chairman Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor ordered for the special panel to conduct an in-depth study on the competency of state assemblies to enact Islamic laws under state enactments and the jurisdiction of the shariah courts.
He said this was due to the number of cases under the jurisdiction of shariah courts being challenged in the Federal Court.
In an 8-1 majority decision last year, the Federal Court struck down 16 provisions in the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 on the grounds of their unconstitutionality.
Then chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the state assembly had no authority to pass the provisions as part of the enactment, as the offences in question were covered under federal law.
