Civil, Syariah Courts Can Preside Together Over Islamic Conversion Disputes - Don

The government should consider the need to integrate the civil and Syariah courts in resolving legal conflict due to religious issues between Muslims and non-Muslims, University Malaya's Academy of Islamic Studies senior lecturer Dr Siti Zubaidah Ismail said.

She said civil and syarie judges could preside over such cases together based on their jurisdictions and expertise in civil and Syariah laws to resolve issues at hand.

Siti Zubaidah is after a mediation approach but warned that the Syariah court should be prepared to face challenges over integration of expertise in ensuring justice was served between contending parties, she said when contacted.

She was commenting on domestic discord and legal (Syariah/civil law) wrangle between fractious couples over Islamic conversion of deceased spouses and fights over children custody after failed marriages of late.

Siti Zubaidah said it was up to the legislature to consider to what extent the judges could execute their decision.

As the integration of the two courts was raised by former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad several years ago, the matter ought to be reviewed and deliberated to enhance public confidence in the national legal system.

"Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution (amendment 1981) asserts that the separation of jurisdiction between the civil and Syariah courts. This is due to applications (before 1981) involving matters where civil court jurisdiction was unclear over issues involving Muslims.

"With the separation of jurisdiction, the approach taken was that when matters come before any court (civil or Syariah), the other court has no right to hear the case.

"However, even though there is already a clear division, it still overlaps or there is still a grey area which requires a solution. All this while, the solution has caused uneasiness and dissatisfaction among certain quarters due to the win or lose issue," she said.

Siti Zubaidah said if the authority was given to either the civil or Syariah courts to try an issue, the other court was deemed 'lost' and could not intervene.

She said the grey area emanated from failed marriages, culminating fights over custody of children and their conversion status while other cases included Islamic finance and banking involving non-Muslims.

"As espoused by Tun Abdul Hamid, inevitably it requires the expertise of both judges to preside together over issues beyond the framework of their jurisdiction. If this contentious issue is not resolved, we could feel how awkward the existing system is," she said.