KUCHING: The Federal Court's landmark decision in M. Indira Gandhi's case will hopefully put an end to unilateral conversion of minors, says Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian.
He said the ruling stated the "correct position" that the consent of both parents is required for a minor to be converted to Islam.
"On the issue of conversion of a minor, the judges have taken the reasonable
approach on the purposive interpretation of Article 12(4) and the requirement to safeguard the welfare of the child," he said in a statement on Monday (Jan 29).
Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution says that the religion of a person under the age of 18 years shall be decided by his or her parent or guardian.
Baru welcomed the unanimous decision by the five-member Federal Court panel to nullify the unilateral conversion of Indira's three children to Islam, saying it was judicious, rational and backed by sound reasoning.
He said it also provided a "badly needed" definitive statement on the limits of the powers and jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts.
"The decision of the Court that the judicial power vested exclusively in the civil High Courts under Article 121(1) of the Federal Constitution may not be removed is a most crucial point.
"With this authoritative statement, there should be no more doubt that judicial power lies firmly in the civil courts.
"The Court has made it clear that where one party is a non-Muslim, the Syariah Court cannot extend its own jurisdiction over that person and the proper forum is the civil courts. That is the rational and correct stand," he said.
Baru added that the Federal Court's declaration on the jurisdiction of the civil courts was significant beyond the confines of conversion cases.
"The Federal Constitution is supreme, the power of the civil courts is unshakable, and that supports our stand that Malaysia is a secular country," he said.
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