IN view of the significant number of parental child abuse and/or neglect cases in Malaysia (in many cases unreported), it is of paramount importance that child custody decisions in family cases are made only after a very careful assessment of the activities and/or behaviour of the parent that may pose a threat to the physical or emotional health and wellbeing of the child.
This assessment is crucial in deciding whether either parent is deemed “fit” or “unfit” and should, in practice, be a key determinant for child custody decisions. The court must deem a parent “unfit” should there be any evidence of this threat.