AMENDMENT WILL ALLOW CONVERTS TO FILE FOR DIVORCE IN CIVIL COURTS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- The proposed amendment to the Law Reform
(Marriage and Divorce) Act 1967 is to allow Muslim converts to file for divorce
in the civil courts, Senior Federal Counsel Mohamad Naser Disa said.


He said, currently, the law was only applicable to non-Muslims.

"It (amendment) is meant to avoid Muslim converts from being abused by their
spouses who refuse to file the petition for divorce, (but) with the amendment,
they (converts) can do so in the civil courts," he said in a special briefing on
laws pertaining to religious conversion at the Federal Territory Mosque here
Tuesday.

He said the proposed amendment would also affect the Administration of
Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 and the Islamic Family Law (Federal
Territories) Act 1984.

The amendment also aimed to make effective the annulment of a civil marriage
to three months after the conversion of a spouse to Islam, he added.

Mohamad Naser said the proposed amendment also included giving the civil
courts the power to decide on matters pertaining to the division of jointly
acquired matrimonial property (harta sepencarian), alimony and child custody, as
well as to prohibit the mother or father from registering the religious
conversion of their children.

He added that the amendment would also give power to the civil courts to
administer assets belonging to a Muslim convert who died before the annulment of
his civil marriage.

"This is to avoid a tussle for the body of the convert," he said.

Mohamed Naser said Section 14 of the Islamic Family Law (Federal
Territories) Act 1984 would be amended to give power to the syariah court judge
to allow a convert to marry.

He added that sub-section 46(2) of the act would deleted to avoid
overlapping of jurisdiction between the syariah and civil courts.

Also present at the briefing were Malaysian Muslim Welfare Organisation
(Perkim) secretary-general Dr Abdul Hamid Othman, Federal Territory Islamic
Religious Department (Jawi) director Che Mat Che Ali and syariah officer at the
Attorney-General's Chambers, Abd Walid Abu Hassan.
-- BERNAMA