Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom says Putrajaya is waiting for the rulers’ consent to set up two more Shariah courts to give them the same powers as the civil Federal Court. ― File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 ― The government is waiting for the rulers’ consent to set up two more Shariah courts to give them the same powers as the civil Federal Court, Malaysia’s highest court, minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said yesterday.

Jamil Khir, who is minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs, reportedly said the government has been in discussions with the state Islamic religious councils (MAIN) since two years ago on its proposal to add two levels to the Islamic legal system that currently comprises the Shariah Subordinate Court, the Shariah High Court and the Shariah Appeal Court.

“The question of whether the level will be named the Shariah Federal Court is not the main issue, but the jurisdiction of that court should be same as the civil Federal Court’s,” Jamil Khir was quoted by Malay-language daily Berita Harian as saying yesterday.

“These five shariah court levels will be the same as the civil courts, but the names of those levels have yet to be determined,” he was further quoted as saying.

A spokesperson from the federal Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) declined comment when contacted by Malay Mail Online for verification.

Kedah Umno Youth Movement chief Datuk Saiful Hazizi Zainal Abidin was reported yesterday by Umno-linked daily Utusan Malaysia as saying that a Shariah equivalent of the Federal Court should be created, after the Court of Appeal recently quashed a Shariah law ban on cross-dressing.

Shariah courts are set up under state laws, while civil courts ― the High Courts, Court of Appeal and Federal Court ― are established under the Federal Constitution.

The Court of Appeal released last Tuesday a written judgment to say that state Islamic laws cannot violate Malaysians’ fundamental freedoms that are protected in the Federal Constitution, as legislations contradicting the constitution are deemed void.

A three-judge panel of Malaysia’s second highest court ruled that Section 66 of the Negri Sembilan Shariah Criminal Enactment 1992, which prohibits Muslim men from cross-dressing, was unconstitutional and void as the state law contravened a slew of fundamental liberties, which are personal liberty, equality, freedom of movement and freedom of expression.

The appellate court ruled last Friday in favour of three Muslim transgenders — Muhamad Juzaili Mohd Khamis, Shukur Jani and Wan Fairol Wan Ismail — who were convicted of cross-dressing under the Negri Sembilan shariah law that punishes Muslim men who wear women’s attire with a fine not exceeding RM1,000, or jail of not more than six months, or both.

The court panel — comprising Justices Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Yunus, Datuk Aziah Ali and Datuk Lim Yee Lan — had said the law was discriminatory as it failed to recognise men diagnosed with gender identity disorder, in which male sufferers identify themselves as women.