No problem with unilateral conversion, says AG

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali has defended the unilateral conversion of children to Islam, citing a 2007 Federal Court decision involving R. Subashini.

In an opinion article published by Malay daily Berita Harian, Apandi urged those with legal experience to thoroughly study, understand and respect what has been set in the Federal Constitution.

“It was in this context that I was shocked when I heard a lawyer, who also heads a religious harmony bureau of a government component party, say that the Federal Constitution, apart from institutions and administrations tainted by racial and religious sentiment, was the cause of racism in this country,” he said.

Apandi did not name the lawyer in question, who had apparently said in a separate statement that his party’s stance was that the term ‘parent’ in Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution, which is about determining the religion of children, must be read as ‘mother and father’ when in fact the Federal Court had clearly said in the Subashini case that it meant mother or father.

Citing the same apex court verdict, the minister in charge of Islamic affairs, Jamil Khir Baharom, had once said in a parliamentary reply that unilateral conversion was legal and laws banning it would contravene the Federal Constitution.

So far, Putrajaya has proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 and the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993.

These proposed amendments seek to ensure that issues such as child support and custody would be determined by the court in which the marriage had been registered, regardless if one spouse later embraces to another religion.

On March 9, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri had said that the Federal Government’s draft of the legal changes had been ready since 2009, but added that the consultation process to obtain feedback from the state Islamic councils was still on going.

  

The issue, however, is still before the Federal Court, which is set to hear an appeal in Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi’s case and to decide whether the consent of both parents is required before a certificate of conversion to Islam can be issued to a child born in a civil marriage.

Source -FMT-