Perak Syariah Supreme Court begins first hearing

The Perak Syariah Supreme Court begins hearing its first case today after being established through a gazette dated Aug 26, 2019 involving a matrimonial property case.

The hearing by a three-judge panel which started at 3pm was chaired by Perak Syariah chief judge Asa'ari Mohd Yazid, Court of Appeal former president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, and Malaysian Syariah Judiciary Department chief judge Mohd Na'im Mokhtar.

In today's proceedings, the court heard an appeal from Esah Mohamad as the applicant and respondent who applied for leave to appeal against the decision of the Syariah Court of Appeal on Feb 27 which rejected her initial objection to quash the appeal of the appellant, Md Noor Lamin who is also her ex-husband, over matrimonial property.

Esah, who was absent due to health problems and was represented by lawyer Radin Katini Abdul Wahab, applied to cancel the appellant's appeal on the grounds that the delivery of the notice was not completed in accordance with the law.

Meanwhile, Mustafa Ghazali, who represented Md Noor, in his submission said the respondents did not have the legal merit to appeal to quash the notice of appeal in the Syariah Court of Appeal.

After more than three hours of sitting, Asa'ari, who read the unanimous decision with Zulkefli and Mohd Na'im, said the Perak Syariah Supreme Court allowed Esah's application to appeal the decision of the Syariah Appeal Court.

The court also ordered both parties to follow the appeal filing process and appeal documentation in accordance with the Civil Procedure Enactment of the Perak Syariah Court in 2004 besides ordering the hearing of the appeal case in the Syariah Court to be suspended until the hearing of the case in the Syariah Supreme Court is decided.

Earlier, Asa'ari, before the hearing began, said the existence of the new hierarchy of the Syariah Court was a platform to issue principles related to an outcome of the law and Syariah laws in the state of Perak.

"This new layer will also provide justice, balance to the entire syariah justice process," he said.

The establishment of the Perak Syariah Supreme Court is a new layer of the appeal process in the Syariah Court which previously only had three layers, namely the Syariah Subordinate Court, the Syariah High Court and the Syariah Court of Appeal.

On Dec 5, 2018, the Perak State Assembly approved the proposed amendment to Section 44 of the Islamic Religious Administration (Perak) Enactment 2004 to enable the creation of a supreme court in the state.

- Bernama