The Federal Court has requested the Hansard for a Pahang Islamic law provision to decide an appeal concerning an Orang Asli woman’s conversion.
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has directed parties in an appeal over an Orang Asli woman’s conversion to Islam to produce the relevant parliamentary Hansard.
Court of Appeal President Datuk Abu Bakar Jais said the record is crucial for the panel’s decision in the 32-year-old woman’s case.
Justice Abu Bakar questioned the rationale behind Section 103 of the Pahang Administration of Islamic Law Enactment 1991 during proceedings.
Both the woman’s lawyer and the Pahang state legal adviser informed the court they could not locate the Hansard for that section.
“It is simply unfair to ask the court to make a decision when the court does not have the materials to assist in deciding the case,” said Abu Bakar.
He sat with Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Hashim Hamzah and Federal Court judge Datuk Lee Swee Seng.
Section 103 states a child in the custody of a convert is deemed converted to Islam when a custody order is granted.
The judge also instructed parties to file submissions on Section 17A of the Interpretation Acts.
The appeal was adjourned to allow time for obtaining the Hansard and preparing further arguments.
Earlier, the woman’s lawyer argued the Court of Appeal erred in applying Section 103 to illegitimate children.
He said the ruling had “rewritten” state law by dispensing with the need for a civil court custody order.
The lawyer stated the woman’s biological mother never consented to her daughter being registered as a Muslim.
Religious authorities recorded her status as ‘professing Islam with mother’ in 1998.
The woman is seeking a declaration that she does not profess Islam, claiming conversion at age two without reciting the ‘Kalimah Syahadah’.
Her mother converted in November 1995, while her father is a Muslim, but her parents were never married.
The Jakun tribe woman lost her case at the High Court in February 2023 and again at the Court of Appeal.
The Federal Court granted her leave to appeal in April this year with six legal questions.
The Court of Appeal has set January 22 for the hearing to continue.
