Muslim judges quit panel in two key interfaith child custody cases
(The Malay Mail Online) – Two Muslim Court of Appeal judges who had previously advised the Attorney-General on unilateral child conversions issues have removed themselves from hearing two high-profile interfaith child custody cases.
Justice Linton Albert, who heads the three-men bench hearing both cases, said the two judges — Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid — have stepped aside to avoid possible conflict of interest.
The Court of Appeal is set to hear the matter before a fresh panel of judges headed by Linton on September 10.
“I have consulted both my brother justice Zawawi and sister justice Umi and both have indicated to me that in the interests of justice, justice must be seen to be done. They have agreed to recuse themselves from this case,” the judge told a packed courtroom.
K. Shanmuga, the lawyer who represented the two Hindu mothers in the two cases, had pointed out earlier that Zawawi had in the past advised the AG on law reforms against unilateral child conversions.
The Court of Appeal is set to hear the matter before a fresh panel of judges headed by Linton on September 10.
Shanmuga said today that Zawawi had done so in his role as the head of the Shariah division in the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
Umi sat in the same meeting on the law reforms in her role as the head of the AGC’s civil division at the time
Despite the government lawyer Senior Federal Counsel Suzana Atan arguing that the judges were not looking at the “merits” of the cases, both Zawawi and Umi decided to recuse themselves.
Last month, the AGC and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) filed for an application to be made third parties to these two cases.
Both want the police to be exempted from acting on civil court orders directing them to recover and return children snatched by Muslim convert fathers.
Lawyers Honey Tan and Philip Koh held watching briefs for the Bar Council and the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) respectively.
Lawyer Goh Siu Lin held a watching brief for ten women’s groups including the Women Aid Organisation (Wao) and Sisters in Islam (SIS).
In 2009, Putrajaya had 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 to ensure that issues like child support and custody would be determined by the court in which the marriage had been registered in, regardless if one spouse embraces another religion later on.
The Cabinet decided in 2009 to bar the unilateral conversions of children, but the proposed law amendments were withdrawn from Parliament.
