Plans for new law to prevent unilateral conversion scrapped

Putrajaya has withdrawn a legislative amendment that was meant to prevent the conversion of a minor to Islam by a parent without the consent of the spouse.

According to de facto Law Minister Azalina Othman Said, the proposal to introduce Section 88A will be scrapped from the Bill to amend the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976.

The proposed Section 88A is as follows:

Section 88a. (1) Where a party to a marriage has converted to Islam, the religion of any child of the marriage shall remain as the religion of the parties to the marriage prior to the conversion, except where both parties to the marriage agree to a conversion of the child to Islam, subject always to the wishes of the child where he or she has attained the age of eighteen years.

(2) Where the parties to the marriage professed different religions prior to the conversion of one spouse to Islam, a child of the marriage shall be at liberty to remain in the religion of either one of the prior religions of the parties before the conversion to Islam.

According to Azalina, the new amendment Bill would be tabled for first reading tomorrow.

"The amendments were made to avoid a conflict with any provision of the Federal Constitution and to fulfill the principle of stare decisis, in view of the Federal Court's interpretation of Article 4, Clause 12," she said in a statement today.

Azalina expressed hope that this development would be seen in a positive light to preserve harmony in Malaysia's multi-ethnic and multi-religious society.

"In view of this, we hope everyone will support this new Bill and not politicise the issue," she said.

Earlier today, Azalina told the Dewan Rakyat that the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2016 had been withdrawn, but she did not specify reasons.

The bill was listed as item Number 10 in the Order Paper.

The bill was first tabled in Parliament last November for first reading. It was expected to reach the debate stage this week.

Several BN component parties, such as MCA and MIC, had welcomed the proposed Section 88A as a solution to the long-standing problem of a parent abusing the law to gain custody of a child.

However, several Muslim groups and scholars have objected to the amendments on grounds that it was unfair to Muslims. - Mkini