Islamic
lawyers laud Shahrizat's call to empower Syariah courts
BY JUNE MOH
- 1 DECEMBER 2016 @ 1:08 PM
KUALA
LUMPUR: Syariah lawyers agree with the recommendations of Tan Sri Shahrizat
Abdul Jalil to empower the Syariah courts and enhance them to become equivalent
to civil courts, said Syariah Lawyers Association (PGSM) president Musa Awang.
Musa said
Syariah law implementation in the country is weak due to the constraints of
authority, staff, legal powers, regulatory diversity and lack of uniformity.
He said one
of the challenges for Syariah lawyers is that each state has its own set of
rules and regulations governing its practices - something which has discouraged
graduates from applying to become Syariah lawyers.
“Every state
has its own set of rules, different qualifications, different exams, different
interviews, as well as their own admission processes.
“Therefore,
we agree with the proposal to form a Syariah Bar Council, an independent body
to supervise and control the eligibility and admissions of Syariah lawyers,”
Musa told New Straits Times.
He said
Syariah law could be strengthened by giving more power to the Syariah criminal
punishment jurisdiction of the Syariah court “(For example, conflicts occur
over) the jurisdiction on issuing legal administer (LA) and dividing the property-inheritance
of Muslims, and the jurisdiction to try the cases of Islamic muamalat or
Islamic banking,” he said.
Echoing Musa
is Syariah lawyer Fakhrul Azman, who agreed to empower the Syariah court with
further authority and jurisdiction.
“The area of
enforcement needs to be enhanced to make it on par with civil courts.
“People
still do not take it seriously when they receive a summons from the Syariah
court, compared to the paper they receive from the civil court.
“I believe
equal authority should also be given to the Syariah court, and for that matter,
the introduction of a private bill to increase the jurisdiction of Syariah
courts is welcomed,” Fakhrul said.
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