Constitutional restatement of parallel jurisdiction between civil courts and Syariah courts in Malaysia: Twenty years on (1988-2008)

INTRODUCTION The Federal Constitution of Malaysia has restated under art 121(1A) that the Syariah courts — as the courts that administer Islamic law — have exclusive jurisdiction over matters under their jurisdiction. The premise of the restatement is to give effect to a pluralistic law and cour...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shuaib, Farid Sufian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: LexisNexis Malaysia Sdn Bhd 2008
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Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/4413/1/Art_Farid_ConstitutionalRestatement_SyariahCt_MLJ08.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/4413/
http://w3.nexis.com/sources/scripts/info.pl?153134
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Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia
Language: English
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Summary:INTRODUCTION The Federal Constitution of Malaysia has restated under art 121(1A) that the Syariah courts — as the courts that administer Islamic law — have exclusive jurisdiction over matters under their jurisdiction. The premise of the restatement is to give effect to a pluralistic law and court system as it existed in Malaysia. Unfortunately this simple premise gave rise to debates of human rights, secularism and the status of Islam in Malaysia. These questions reflect legitimate concerns over the state of legal pluralism in Malaysia. On one hand, it is the legitimate expectation of Muslims to be governed by their own laws. On the other hand, where the interests of Muslims and non-Muslims are apparently in conflict, state mandated legal pluralism gives rise to questions about nature of the state and human rights protection. Thus, it is pertinent for these concerns to be addressed and a middle path to be laid.