As for the author Mr. Bob Teoh, please refer to my previous postings including his articles. (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20090227)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20110809)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20120112)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20120426)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20121206)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20121229)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20130322)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20130426)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20130516) (Lily)
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Herald case takes a surprise turn, 23 May 2013
by Bob Teoh
PUTRAJAYA, Thur: In a surprise turn of events, the Court of Appeal today handed down a consent order that would allow seven Islamic bodies to join the government’s appeal against the High Court judgment which allows the Catholic Herald newspaper to use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
In doing so, this would mean that the case may not be sent back to the High Court for a retrial. Case management has been set for 30 May and thereafter the substantive appeal will be heard after over three years of delays.
A three-member panel led by Justice Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin and also comprising Justices Datuk Balia Yusof and Datuk Rohana Yusuf, handed down the consent order that allows:
1. the Islamic bodies to join in the appeal,
2. the High Court order made on 31 Dec 2009 that threw out the Islamic bodies from the previous hearing to be set aside,
3. the Islamic bodies to be deemed to have been a party to the High Court proceedings and be allowed to be heard in opposition and in this respect was so heard before the High Court.
A fortnight ago on 8 May, the Court of Appeal questioned the propriety of the procedure adopted by the High Court in 2009, to simultaneously hear the Roman Catholic Church's judicial review application over the usage of the word 'Allah', and the Islamic religious councils' intervener applications.
The court then ordered lawyers for the Catholic church and the seven Islamic bodies as well as the senior federal counsel representing the government and home ministry to submit on that issue for today’s hearing.
Mr Justice Datuk Balia Yusof was reported to have said that parties in the case should address on the procedure propriety issue as that would affect the legality of the High Court decision, in allowing the church's judicial review.
He said if there was an irregularity in the procedure adopted by Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan, who heard the Herald application, the case could be remitted back to the High Court for a retrial.
The Catholic church had applied to the High Court in 2007 for a judicial review to quash the decision of the Home Minister and the Federal government to prohibit the Herald - The Catholic Weekly - from using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
The court decided, among other things, the government’s decision as illegal, null and void and that the Herald has the constitutional right to use the word.
It also decided that although Islam is the religion of the Federation, the government cannot prohibit the Herald from using the word ‘Allah.’
In throwing out the application by the seven Islamic bodies to join in the hearing, the court said the judicial review applied for by the Catholic church was not a judicial review of a decision of the Rulers or the Agung as Head of Islam. It was a review only of the minister’s decision to impose a prohibition of the use of the word ‘Allah’ by the Herald as a condition for renewing its publishing licence.
It also ruled that since the Rulers and the Agung cannot make any decision in respect of any publications, the issue of whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the case, does not arise.
Subsequently, the Cabinet in an attempt to resolve the controversy over the use of the Alkitab, the Malay language Bible, (which uses the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God), issued a so-called 10-point solution in 2011 that allows the import, printing, distribution and sale of the Alkitab. There are over two million Christians in Malaysia, two-third of whom are Malay speaking believers mainly in Sabah and Sarawak who use the Alkitab as their Bible and the term ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
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