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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Syariah Court and Merdeka

The word Syariah Court only appears in our Federal Constitution in 1988, after the insertion of article 121 (1A). That is the only article that mentions the status of syariah court. It is quite strange to hear this despite Islam is the religion of the Federation.

Syariah Court is the state court which means it does not belong to the Federal Govt except for Syariah court in the Fedreal Territory. By whatever status it belongs to, Syariah Court remains a court which demands a respect from the public and anybody who questioned the credibility of a decision made by Syariah cort could amount to contempt of court.

In the context of criminal jurisdiction, the maximum punishment can punish the offender is 3,5 and 6. 3 year imprisonment, RM5000 fine and 6 lashes. This power of punishing the offender is applicable for all the three levels of court. On the other hand, Magistrate court can punish more than the Syariah court. Why? The simple answer is that Magistarte court is a civil court.

In conjunction with our 52nd Merdeka Day tomorrow, I hope Syariah Court would remain an independent judicial institution and the syariah court judge has no hesitation to give judgement withour fear and favour. Hopefully, Syariah court’s decision would be “Merdeka “ from any form of interference from executive and legislative... This is a real MERDEKA

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