Kedah ruler wants Syariah Court empowered, placed under state Constitution

The Sultan of Kedah has called for the Syariah court to be placed under the state Constitution to empower the Kedah’s Islamic judicial system.

(NST) – In his royal address at the First Meeting of the Second Session of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly, Sultan Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah decreed for the Syariah court to be upheld and empowered in line with Islam’s status in the state.

“The Syariah Court is the beacon of justice for Islam as the official religion in the state.

“Therefore, I wish for the Syariah Court to become an important institution in line with the status of Islam in this state.

Sultan Sallehuddin said the Syariah Court must be placed under the state constitution, similar to how the civil court is mentioned in the Federal Constitution.

He called on the state government to review the Syariah Court structure and improve the status of Syariah Court judges so that they are on par with their civil court counterparts.

“I wish for this to be expedited to uphold the status of Syariah Court in Kedah,” he said.

Last month, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced the formation of a special committee to study the Federal Court’s ruling to quash 16 provisions of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment.

Seven of Kedah’s Syariah criminal provisions are similar to Kelantan’s laws which have been ruled unconstitutional.

Sanusi was reported as saying the state government would identify possible issues with Kedah’s Syariah criminal laws and that its findings would be presented to a committee under the Malaysian National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs.

The move was in response to the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s decree ordering all parties to respect the decision of the Federal Court to nullify 16 provisions under the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (1) Enactment 2019.

Last month, the Federal Court ruled that 16 out of 18 provisions under the Kelantan Syariah Law were unconstitutional.