Establishment of Syariah Prosecution Department a positive development, says Penang Mufti

GEORGE TOWN: The setting up of the Malaysian Syariah Prosecution Department is a positive development, especially in separating the roles and responsibilities of enforcement agencies from prosecution.

Penang Mufti, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor, said that it could end the overlapping of powers between the Islamic Religious Department and the Syariah Courts.

He said that the establishment of the department at the federal level would not encroach state powers and would not alter the powers and functions of the State Syariah Chief Prosecutor as outlined in the State Islamic Religious Affairs Enactment.

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"The department should have been established long ago to facilitate and expedite the management of cases brought forward by the Muslim community for resolution by the Syariah Court," he said when contacted on Thursday (Feb 22).

On Wednesday (Feb 21), the media reported that the government would establish the department to strengthen the Syariah legal ecosystem in the country.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs), Dr Zulkifli Hasan, was reported to have said that the process of establishing it was currently in the discussion stage.

He was reported as saying that the government was committed to systematically and regularly empowering Syariah legislations, including through the proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Bill 355). - Bernama