RUU355 amendments may be tabled in Parliament this year, says minister

The amendments were approved by the AGC in October 2022 but could not be tabled then as Parliament was dissolved soon after.

(FMT) – Proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, or RUU355, are expected to be tabled in Parliament this year after engagement sessions with the stakeholders are complete.

Religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar said the Islamic development department (Jakim) had invited Islamic religious councils, shariah courts and state Islamic religious departments across the country to provide their views on the proposed amendments, adding that the engagement sessions will be completed soon.

“The report on the (outcome of the) engagement sessions has not been prepared yet,” Na’im said after the opening of the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) carnival here today.

“Once the report is done, we will bring it to the Cabinet to get a policy decision before tabling it in the Dewan Rakyat.”

The amendments were approved by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) in October 2022 and were supposed to be tabled at the end of that month’s parliamentary session.

However, the process was stalled because of the dissolution of Parliament.

In 2016, PAS president and Marang MP Abdul Hadi Awang submitted amendments to RUU355 as a private member’s bill.

The amendments were to enact harsher punishments for shariah offences by raising the shariah courts’ maximum sentencing limits to 30 years jail, a RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the cane.

Currently, the limits are a jail term of three years, a RM5,000 fine, and six strokes of the cane.

At the time, it was reported that PAS hoped to enact a stricter Islamic criminal code of hudud, but it was strongly opposed by the public. The amendment bill was then presented as a resolution to strengthen the shariah courts.