Legal precedent exists for Federal Court shariah enactment decision, says G25

 

G25 applauded Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter, Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman, for their courage and initiative in filing the petition.

PETALING JAYA: The Kelantan government should emulate the Negeri Sembilan government, which lost its case against Juzaili Khamis at the Court of Appeal in 2015, says G25.

In a statement released today, the group of former senior civil servants said in this case, the court ruled Section 66 (prohibition on cross-dressing for male Muslims) of the Syariah Criminal (Negeri Sembilan) Enactment 1992 to be unconstitutional as it was in contravention of the fundamental liberty provisions of the Federal Constitution.

“The Negeri Sembilan government had the humility to abide by this Court of Appeal judgment. In 2019, it took the initiative to amend Section 66 accordingly to make the provision conform with the Federal Constitution.

“The Court of Appeal also held that, although Article 3(1) declared that Islam is the religion of the federation, the practice of Islam in this country is governed by the provisions of the Federal Constitution.

“Article 3(4) declares that nothing in this Article derogates from any other provisions of the constitution,” G25 said, adding that it was each state’s responsibility to ensure their enactments conformed with the constitution.

“Our forefathers, when drafting the Federal Constitution, intended the Federation of Malaya (and later Malaysia) to be a secular state.”

The group said it was imperative for state legal advisers to be knowledgeable in constitutional law.

They must always be vigilant when laws are drafted by the states and have the courage to advise the state governments where they are serving on the division of legislative powers between the states and the federation. They need to advise on the limits of the respective state’s legislative powers, G25 said.

“G25 commends the Federal Court for its landmark judgment in declaring that several provisions/sections of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 are null and void.

“We applaud Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter, Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman, for their courage and initiative in filing the petition.”

G25 said it noted with grave concern that PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, when addressing a large crowd outside the Palace of Justice after the Federal Court’s judgment, had stated that the Federal Court’s judgment was a “dark day in history for Muslims” in the country and that the decision could also threaten shariah law.

“G25 views this as a highly provocative and dangerous statement, bordering on incitement.

“As a lawyer and a former law minister in Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration, he should have known better.

“He ought to have advised the crowd to respect the judgment of the Federal Court and to take heed of the ruling instead of taking the opportunity to make the judgment a political issue.

“We fervently hope the Kelantan government will take the Federal Court’s judgment in the right spirit and do the needful to amend the state shariah criminal code.”

The group reminded the people that the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the nation and every institution is obliged to act by it.

“This is what the rule of law is all about,” G25 said.

Yesterday, the Federal Court struck down 16 provisions in the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 because they are unconstitutional.

Announcing the 8-1 majority decision by the court, Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the state assembly had no power to pass the provisions as part of the enactment as the offences in question were already covered by federal law. - FMT