The Malaysian federal court docket declared a number of Kelantan state Sharia legal guidelines to be unconstitutional in a judgement on Friday. The choice adopted a petition deposited by lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter, Tengku Yasmin Natasha Tengku Abdul Rahman, to problem the constitutionality of provisions of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 associated to offenses corresponding to destroying locations of worship, sodomy, sexual harassment, use of intoxicating substances, incest and different offenses.
The petition was filed on the premise of Article 4 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution, which offers that “This Structure is the supreme legislation of the Federation and any legislation handed after Merdeka Day which is inconsistent with this Structure shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.” The court docket present in its ruling that the state has no energy to enact Islamic legal guidelines concerning such offences as they’re beneath federal legislation.
Malaysia is a federal nation with a twin authorized system, the place frequent legislation and Islamic (Shariah) legislation, which is utilized to Muslims, co-exist, as supplied by Article 121 of the federal structure. States are in a position to enact legal guidelines regarding Islamic issues; nonetheless, they have to abide by the provisions of the federal structure.
Rashid celebrated the choice, stating that it proved the supremacy of the federal structure. She additional defended her petition as she reported being sufferer of demise threats, saying that her goal was to guard “the sovereignty of the federal structure.”
The choice acquired criticism from the Kelantan ruling social gathering Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and its supporters, with PAS secretary-general, Takiyuddin Hassan, referring to it as a “Black Friday.” He was then criticiszd by Sisters In Islam (SIS), a Malaysian human rights group, who said his remark is dangerous to the nation.
Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat maintained in her judgement that the case didn’t undermine the faith of Islam, in response to claims that it aimed to have an effect on Islamic legislation in Malaysia. The court docket’s judgement is but to be printed.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
