The Federal Court has fixed Feb 24 next year to hear the Catholic Church's leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision on the Allah issue.
This was confirmed this evening by one of the lawyers for the Catholic Church, Annou Xavier (left).
The case management on the matter was held today, after the church applied for an earlier date to hear its application for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on Oct 14.
Parties appealing in civil cases before the Federal Court have to apply for leave (permission) before the matter is heard by the highest court in the land.
It was reported that lawyer for the Catholic Archbishop, S Selvarajah, had written to the Federal Court last week seeking for an early date following questions over the appellate court’s overturning of the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision on the matter.
This resulted in the case management today that came before Federal Court registrar Noraziati Jaafar.
On Dec 31, 2009, KL High Court judge Justice Lau Bee Lan had ruled that the Home Ministry’s ban on the use of the word by Catholic weekly The Herald was unconstitutional as it violated Article 11 of the federal constitution.
However, in October this year, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision, stating that the term Allah is "not an integral part of the Christian faith".
Vast implications over verdict
This was confirmed this evening by one of the lawyers for the Catholic Church, Annou Xavier (left).The case management on the matter was held today, after the church applied for an earlier date to hear its application for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on Oct 14.
Parties appealing in civil cases before the Federal Court have to apply for leave (permission) before the matter is heard by the highest court in the land.
It was reported that lawyer for the Catholic Archbishop, S Selvarajah, had written to the Federal Court last week seeking for an early date following questions over the appellate court’s overturning of the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision on the matter.
This resulted in the case management today that came before Federal Court registrar Noraziati Jaafar.
On Dec 31, 2009, KL High Court judge Justice Lau Bee Lan had ruled that the Home Ministry’s ban on the use of the word by Catholic weekly The Herald was unconstitutional as it violated Article 11 of the federal constitution.
However, in October this year, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision, stating that the term Allah is "not an integral part of the Christian faith".
Vast implications over verdict
Despite the government’s assurance that the verdict was only applicable to the use of the word in The Herald and that Christians in East Malaysia were free to use the word, many have expresseddoubt, expressing fear that the decision can be use to govern the use of the word by all religions.
This comes after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had agreed to the10-point solution in April 2011, allowing the importation and publication of bibles from Indonesia with the use of the word ‘Allah’ for use in Sabah and Sarawak.
Hence, following the vast implications the matter, the church applied for an early hearing date.
The church had also posed 26 questions of law which is to be decided by the Federal Court should leave be allowed.
The legal questions reportedly cover three areas pertaining to constitution, administrative issues and if the courts can decide on comparative religious issues.
The government and six state Islamic councils comprising Terengganu, Kedah, Federal Territory, Johor, Selangor and Malacca, and the Malaysian Chinese Muslims Associations are objecting to the leave application.
This comes after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had agreed to the10-point solution in April 2011, allowing the importation and publication of bibles from Indonesia with the use of the word ‘Allah’ for use in Sabah and Sarawak.Hence, following the vast implications the matter, the church applied for an early hearing date.
The church had also posed 26 questions of law which is to be decided by the Federal Court should leave be allowed.
The legal questions reportedly cover three areas pertaining to constitution, administrative issues and if the courts can decide on comparative religious issues.
The government and six state Islamic councils comprising Terengganu, Kedah, Federal Territory, Johor, Selangor and Malacca, and the Malaysian Chinese Muslims Associations are objecting to the leave application.
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