KUALA LUMPUR – The Kuala Lumpur Bar has lauded Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat’s reminder for all parties to uphold the rule of law and refrain from fuelling public sentiments through distorted statements.
Its committee chairman, Alvin Oh Seong Yew, said that the committee agrees with the observations made by the Federal Court during yesterday’s hearing on a constitutional challenge against 18 provisions under the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019.
“The Kuala Lumpur Bar is in agreement with the Federal Court’s observations that parties ought to refrain from discussing or making misleading statements on pending cases in public forums, especially where sensitive matters such as race and religion are involved.
“It is imperative that the rule of law and due process is upheld such that legal and constitutional disputes are resolved by a court of law and not by the court of public opinion,” Oh said in a statement yesterday.
Yesterday, Tengku Maimun stressed that the constitutional challenge, initiated by lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter, Tengku Yasmin Natasha Tengku Abdul Rahman, is not intended to undermine the position of Islam or the shariah courts in the country.
“The issue arising out of the petition is simply about the competency of the Kelantan state legislative assembly to enact the impugned provisions,” said Tengku Maimun, who chaired the nine-person bench yesterday.
The top judge added that the bench is “taking this unusual step of making this observation” as much of what has been said regarding the mother-daughter duo’s petition was “ the distorted version of what the real issue is.”
Her stern reminder voiced on behalf of the bench came as a response to the duo’s affidavit over a public statement allegedly issued by one of the lawyers representing the Terengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council.
“We would like to remind lawyers that you are bound by the ethics of your profession and you know very well that it is not appropriate to discuss pending cases at a public forum, more so when you fail to disclose the full facts of the case,” Tengku Maimun added.
The Federal Court said that it will be reserving its judgement in the constitutional challenge, after the bench listens to submission from six amicus curiae and watches brief counsels.
Nik Elin and Tengku Yasmin Natasha are seeking a declaration from the Federal Court to nullify the 18 provisions, arguing their similarity to existing provisions under the Federal List and offences under the Penal Code.
The contested shariah provisions include Section 13 (selling or giving away a child to non-Muslim or morally reprehensible Muslim), Section 14 (sodomy), Sections 16 and 17 (sexual intercourse with a corpse and with a non-human), as well as Section 42 (abuse of halal label and connotation).
Notably, the initial list of 20 provisions was reduced to 18 during the case hearing on August 17, with the exclusion of Section 5 (false claim) and Section 37 (gambling).
PAS, which has characterised the case as an attack on Islam and condemned Nik Elin for allegedly undermining the faith through the suit, held a Gerakan Selamatkan Shariah (Save Shariah Movement) rally in front of the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya at the same time as yesterday’s proceedings. – November 21, 2023