Federal Constitution is supreme, state can’t exclude judiciary, says SIS

KLANG: Sisters in Islam (SIS) has welcomed the Federal Court’s decision declaring Section 66A of the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment (ARIE) 2003 as unconstitutional.

The decision by a panel of nine Federal Court judges on Monday (Feb 21) held that the state Syariah Courts do not have the jurisdiction to hear judicial reviews against the decisions of state religious bodies.

SIS executive director Rozana Isa said in a statement that Section 66A of the enactment only came into force in May 2015 after SIS had obtained leave by the High Court for a judicial review of the 2014 fatwa issued against it.

“The decision by the Federal Court to invalidate Section 66A of ARIE on the grounds of unconstitutionality is proof that the Federal Constitution is supreme and the state may not over reach and exclude the judiciary in the decision making process.

“With this matter now resolved, we can now focus on our pending appeal (against the fatwa) in the Court of Appeal,” said Rozana in a statement.

She said the Federal Court judgment also declared that the judicial reviews were an inherent right of the civil courts as well as that the interpretation of the courts on the definition of Muslims as natural persons was also ground-breaking.

However, Rozana added that SIS was also cautious of the Federal Court’s judgment in regards to the fatwa’s content, which was still under the purview of the Selangor Syariah Courts.

“We still have a long way to go as SIS’ journey to maintain the right to speak on justice and Muslim women’s rights is far from over.

“Regardless, SIS will continue to fight for Muslim women’s rights despite the challenges,” she said.

SIS, in a separate action, had also initiated a judicial review against Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS), the Selangor State Fatwa Committee and the Selangor government after the religious body issued a fatwa, which declared SIS as deviants for subscribing to liberalism and religious pluralism.

The Federal Court had declared on Monday that the Selangor legislative assembly has no authority to make an enactment, which confers the state Syariah Court the power to review fatwa issued by the state religious authorities.