The government will speed up the establishment of the Supreme Sharia Court

KUALA LUMPUR: We will accelerate the creation of a Shari'a High Court to rule on child support and child custody claims in the Federal Territories, announced today the Minister of the Premier's Department. Minister, Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

He added that the government is currently gathering feedback from various quarters, including the Attorney General's Chambers and the Ministry of Finance, before submitting the proposal to the Cabinet and the Islamic Religious Council of the Federal Territories.

"I have seen the working papers and they only need an approval at our level (the Cabinet).

"It is not necessary to bring the case before Parliament," he said after witnessing the accreditation of 53 Sharia lawyers from the Federal Territory to the courthouse of the Federal Court of the Federal Territory here today.

Also present were Mukhyuddin Ibrahim, General Director of the Judicial Department of Sharia, the Chief Justice of the Sharia Court of the Federal Territories Ibrahim Deris, the secretary of the Islamic Religious Council of the Federal Territory Mohd Ajib Ismail, the judges of the Court of Sharia. Mohd Amran Mat Zain and Mohd Radzi Abdul Latif, and Chief Registrar Noor Hadina Ahmad Zabidi from the Judicial Department of Sharia in Malaysia.

Mujahid said that the process of collecting comments should be completed shortly and that it could be presented to Cabinet no later than early next year.

When asked whether the establishment of the court would be extended to other States, Mujahid replied that it depended on the provisions of the respective constitutions of States.

Previously, the Mujahids had proposed the creation of a court to resolve the problem of ex-husbands not paying alimony despite obtaining a court order.

Earlier, in his speech, Mujahid had asked Sharia lawyers to perform their duties fairly by defending the rights of their clients.