‘COMMON LAW IS SERVING US WELL’
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism is distressed at the statements made by the Chief Justice and the Attorney General of Malaysia which seem to advocate the wholesale replacement of 50 years of legal tradition in Malaysia.
On 22nd August, 2007 (The Star) the Chief Justice was reported to have called for the abolition of the use of English common law and impliedly advocated its replacement with syariah and customary laws. The attorney general was reported on 23rd August, 2007 (Utusan Malaysia) to have supported the view of the Chief Justice and said that syariah laws are best as they emphasize justice and equal distribution of rights. The editorial of Utusan Malaysia of the same day called for a repeal of section 3 of the Civil Law Act, 1956 to be replaced with a mixture of syariah and customary laws to form the basis of a Malaysian common law.
We are also concerned at the subsequent statements by Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato’ Seri Nazri Aziz and Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin who both seem to welcome such a reappraisal. Of particular concern are the statements of Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin who has welcomed the suggestion to implement syariah to replace the common law and advocated that it be done in stages (Utusan, 24/8/2007).
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism wishes to emphasize that all our religions teach justice, equality and fairness. We remind ourselves that the use of the common law, a body of judge-made law originally derived from England and now a part of the law in most of the Commonwealth, applies only where there is no Malaysian Statutes to deal with the case. As distinguished from syariah law, the common law is administered by secular courts, i.e. our Civil Courts.
For 50 years the common law system has served Malaysia well and has not had any negative effect and in fact has strengthened Malaysia’s credibility internationally. The common law links us to the rest of this increasingly globalised world.
Although the majority of Malaysians are persons professing Islam, a sizable minority of its people (approximately 45%) profess other religions. Hence we would find it objectionable for syariah laws to be imposed on and applied to non-Muslim through our laws and the Civil Courts. Malaysia is a secular state and “the law in this country is still what it is today, secular law“ (Che Omar bin Che Soh v Public Prosecutor (1988)). Therefore we wish to remind the Chief Justice, the Attorney General and Ministers of Government that their oaths of office are to “preserve, protect and defend” our Constitution and the rights of all Malaysians, whether Muslims or non Muslims.
It is wholly unacceptable for any theological law to replace the system of law we have in Malaysia today. We should be concentrating on making the necessary reforms to our Constitution and to our statute laws so that the rights and freedoms of all Malaysians are enhanced and the integrity of our Constitutional institutions are enhanced. We need more effective checks and balances to ensure that efforts to subvert our Constitution and turn Malaysia into a theocracy are thwarted.
We applaud the recent suggestion by another cabinet minister, Tan Sri Muhiyuddin, for greater dialogue amongst religious communities within a controlled environment. In particular, the suggestion that the ruling coailition as a whole meet with the various civil society groups is a novel and innovative idea, and one which we hope will be urgently implemented.
In our Press Statement of 17th July 2007 showing the historical basis affirming Malaysia’s position as a secular State, the MCCBCHST had urged the Government, the Judiciary and all Malaysians to respect the social contract which was formulated in 1957 and reaffirmed in 1963 embodied in the Federal Constitution. We have voiced our very strong objections to attempts by the Government and the Judiciary to now change the status quo surreptitiously thereby jeopardizing the democratic freedoms of all Malaysians. We repeat those sentiments today as they seem to have fallen on some deaf ears.
All persons who hold Constitutional office must act fairly in safeguarding the interests of all Malaysians in accordance with universal values of justice and equality embodied in our social contract - the Federal Constitution. They must be able to distinguish their personal religious sentiments from their public office.
Datuk A. Vaithilingam
President
23 August 2007
Note:
This Statement is issued on behalf of the MCCBCHST by its President. The MCCBCHST is a registered society dedicated to the promotion of goodwill, harmony and unity through genuine dialogue. It comprises the national organisations of the five religions, namely Malaysian Buddhist Association, Buddhist Missionary Society of Malaysia & Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society; Christian Federation of Malaysia comprising the Catholic Bishops' Conference, Council of Churches Malaysia & National Evangelical Christian Fellowship; Malaysian Gurdwara Council, Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia & Khalsa Diwan Malaysia; Malaysia Hindu Sangam and Federation of Taoist Associations, Malaysia.
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