AG cites apex court ruling as precedent for lawful unilateral conversions of minors

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 ― Amid simmering tensions, Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali defended today the unilateral conversion of children to Islam, citing a 2007 Federal Court decision in the case of R. Subashini.

He also said he was “shocked” when he heard a Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmaker assert that the Federal Constitution was the cause for racialism in Malaysia.

“In was in this context I was shocked when I heard a lawyer, who also heads a religious harmony bureau of a government component party, say that the Federal Constitution, apart from institutions and administrations tainted by racial and religious sentiment, was the cause of racialism in this country,” he was quoted as saying in an opinion piece in today's Malay daily Berita Harian.

“In a separate statement, he insisted that his party’s stance was that the term 'parent' in Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution, which is about determining the religion of children, must be read as 'mother or father' when in fact the Federal Court in the case of Subashini a/p Rajasingam v Saravanan a/l Thangathoray (2007) clearly said that it meant mother or father,” he said.

Apandi, however, did not name the lawmaker in question.

On May 19, Islamic affairs minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom also said in a parliamentary reply that unilateral conversion was legal and laws banning it would contravene the Federal Constitution, citing the same apex court verdict.

In 2007, the Federal Court ruled in the case of R. Subashini, that in line with Article 12(4), her Muslim convert husband had the right to convert their children to his faith without her consent.

On May 1, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said an informal Cabinet panel is looking into ways to resolve interfaith child custody conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim parents, but needed time to seek the Malay Rulers’ views on some of the measures to be taken.

Those previously named to be part of the Cabinet taskforce are Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.

Dr Subramaniam had said in January that the prime minister has agreed in principle to consider amending the law to prevent children from being converted to another religion without the consent of both parents.

The Cabinet decided in 2009 to bar the unilateral conversion of children, but the proposed legal amendments to enforce this were later shelved following the intervention from the Conference of Rulers hours before they could be tabled in Parliament.

Putrajaya had then proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 and the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 to ensure that issues like child support and custody would be determined by the court in which the marriage had been registered in, regardless if one spouse embraces another religion later on.

On March 9, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri had said that the federal government’s draft for legal changes has been ready since 2009, but added that the consultation process to obtain feedback from the state Islamic councils was still ongoing.

This issue is however still before the Federal Court, which is set to hear an appeal in Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi’s case and decide whether the consent of both parents is required before a certificate of conversion to Islam can be issued to a child born in a civil marriage.

from Malay Mail Online | All http://ift.tt/284JUIt

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