FACULTY OF LAW

LAW557
LEGAL RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY
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Analyzing The Constitutional And Jurisdictional Issues Regarding To The Position Of
Islam And Syariah Court In Malaysia


Muhammad Anas Bin Baharudin (2012472468)
Ahmad Nur Izzuddin Bin Annual (2012690568)
Nurul Izzati Bt Ahmad Nasaruddin (2012259222)

KUMPULAN: LAWB04N

NAME OF LECTURERS:
Madam Sivameenambihai A/P Veeriah


Problem Statement
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia has already restated that under Article 121(1A),
Syariah Courts have exclusive jurisdiction over matters under their jurisdiction. The foundation
of the restatement is to give higher effect to a pluralistic law and courts system as it existed in
Malaysia. Unluckily this simple foundation gave rise to debate of human rights, secularism and
the status of Islam in different view in Malaysia. Even though, The Ninth Schedule of the
Federal Constitution provides that Islamic law is under the jurisdiction of the state and it is
empowered to enact Islamic Law but Syariah Courts has no power to impose punishment in
regards to a criminal law as a whole even though such power is within the states legislature.
Other than that, this research will also reflect legitimate concerns over the state of legal pluralism
in Malaysia. It is the legitimate prospect of Muslims to be governed by their own laws.
Unfortunately, the existences of Syariah Court apparently have raised a conflict of interest upon
a non-Muslim. The state mandated legal pluralism gives rise to questions about nature of the
state and human rights protections. It is relevant for these concerns to be addressed and a middle
path to be arranged.


Research Question
1. Is the domination of English Law in the Malaysian Legal System produces a split
between the local law and imposed law towards the citizen of Malaysia?
2. Can civil courts interfere in the administration of justice in Syariah courts when tabling
the constitutional amendment?
3. Is Syariah Court able to shoulder the added responsibility when the courts alone given its
own jurisdiction?
4. Can non-Muslims be prosecuted in Syariah Courts?
5. Does conversion of Muslims to another religion is stated under Syariah jurisdiction or
civil jurisdiction?
6. Can Muslim judges in Civil Courts be trusted to decide fairly towards other religions and
races because of their religious believe?
7. Does Syariah courts involve in all problems involving other religion issue that relate with
Islamic faith?

Reseach Objectives
1. To identify nature of the amendment made to article 121 of the federal constitution
2. To critically analysis the issues on the jurisdiction of the civil courts and syariah courts
3. To identify the jurisdiction of the courts to adjudicate on matters that overlaps both
courts
4. To identify insufficient and unclear composition of Syariah law
5. To analyse the scope of power given by the Federal State to the State Authority in
dealings with Syariah Court


Significance of The Research
The research will impact the society in many ways. This research will serve as a very
great reference for people in academic world. For example, the research can be a very good
material for the lecturers in law school to use it to explain problems face by the separation of
jurisdiction between civil courts and syariah courts in Malaysia. This research can also help in
reaching better understanding of the separation between the civil and the syariah courts.
It covers different topics from the constitution, the legal system, freedom of religion and
others. Not only it will benefit the student, it will also benefit researchers or lecturers as it
provides critical analysis from various aspects in dealings with various problems since the
amendment. It can be said that Malaysia had faced this kind of problems way back since the
amendment. However, there are no scholars had yet to critically analyse the problems
thoroughly.
Because of there are no analyse done pertaining to this matter, this research will provide
the whole picture to the legal community from the legislator to the practitioner. The state
legislative assembly is one entity that can totally benefit from this research. This is because they
can recognize the problems faced by the syariah courts which are within the power of the state to
enact any law regarding Islamic matters.
Furthermore, this research can help the general public in deeper understanding on the
intention of the amendment of the constitution in article 121 in 1988. Throughout the years, it
has been clear that the amendment objective is to ensure that syariah courts could exercise their
jurisdiction. But, it must be noted that does the practice is in line with the intention of the
amendments? This is another point on why this research is very significant.
There are instances where the decisions made by the courts are very confusing. While
one court regards them as have no jurisdiction, the others points out that the syariah courts have
no jurisdiction. This kind of confusion is very undesirable as it reflects weakness in the legal
system whether the law or just the practice itself. It also upsets the people that seek
enlightenment but they only found themselves more confuse on the matters as the system is very
unclear.
Thus, this research is not only significant but crucial in stating the problems face by the
courts and the system. This is to allow the relevant authorities to react immediately to resolve the
problems in any ways. Moreover, by pursuing in the research in this topic, it will benefit the
society significantly. This is because we can see that many issues in the syariah courts involves
matters on family law matters such as child custody in case of spouse conversion, religion faith
of a deceased and also apostasy. The issues of the courts being reluctant to discuss or declare a
citizens faith is also an important issue that will be address in this research.
As a conclusion, this research is very important and crucial to provide a critical analysis
on matters that have not been discussed in depth before. It will not only analyse but provide a
fresh view to the ongoing confusion that have been part of the system since the amendments and
will provide a clear and concise overview on the situation to the whole society.