Include criminal jurisdiction in Concurrent List, PAS tells govt

 

PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari says the government can easily amend the Federal Constitution as it has a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

PETALING JAYA: PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari has urged the government to amend the Federal Constitution to include criminal jurisdiction in its Concurrent List.

In a statement, Fadhli said doing so would “clearly empower” state assemblies to enact criminal offences, including under shariah law.

The Federal Constitution provides for a list of matters which are the sole responsibility of Parliament, known as the Federal List, and another list of matters which fall within the jurisdiction of the state assemblies, known as the State List.

A third list, known as the Concurrent List, enumerates matters which are the joint responsibility of Parliament and the state assemblies.

“I believe the government can easily do this. It is stable and has a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat,” Fadhli said in a Facebook statement.

In an 8-1 ruling today, the Federal Court struck down 16 provisions contained in the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (1) Enactment 2019, on grounds that they violated the Federal Constitution.

Delivering the majority ruling, Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the state assembly had no power to enact the 16 provisions as part of its enactment as the offences were already covered under federal laws.

Commenting on the ruling, Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal claimed the country’s Muslim community was disappointed with the government’s decision not to intervene in the proceedings.

He said the government’s failure to intervene was also raised by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli in his dissenting judgment earlier today.

“Perikatan Nasional has consistently urged the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to intervene and participate in this case to jointly defend the Kelantan state shariah enactment.

“However, it is deeply regrettable that this was not done.”

The sole dissenting judge in the 8-1 ruling, Rahman noted that the federal government was not a party to the motion brought by lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman to strike down various provisions in a Kelantan state shariah enactment.

Rahman also held that the constitutional challenge brought by the duo was an abuse of the court process as they had no legal standing to initiate the challenge since they were not aggrieved parties. - FMT