Hierarchy Of Syariah Court In Malaysia
Question 1 a in accordance with judicial precedent the judge of high court is bound to the decision of court of appeal.
Hierarchy of syariah court in malaysia. The hierarchy of courts begins from the magistrates court sessions court high court court of appeal and finally the federal court. Please refer to registrar s circular no 19. The following is the hierarchy of subordinate courts. Penghulu s court the penghulu s courts hear civil issues in which the claim is below rm50 00 and where the offenders are of asian race and speaks and understands the malay language.
The high court court of appeal and the federal court are superior courts. There are generally two types of trials criminal and civil. These are those courts in malaysia which are somewhat similar to the former quarter sessions in england. The proposition while attractive is grossly inaccurate in law.
Even though syariah law provides regulations in all aspects the syariah law that is applicable in malaysia is confined to only personal matters amongst others. Any problems that arise pertaining to syariah matters and the parties will have to go to the syariah court to determine their claims. The federal court of malaysia in the highest court of the land. The law on marriage and divorce and the distribution of estates before and after death.
The subordinate courts in malaysian legal system hierarchy the subordinate courts comprises the sessions courts the penghulu s courts in western part of malaysia and the magistrates court. The structure of courts consisting of subordinate and superior levels with the sultan as the head of the judiciary shows the existence of an organized structure which recognized natural justice as one of the rules of law. Judicial precedent is a system where a judge of a court makes a decision and the court at the same level as it or the courts below it in the hierarchy of the malaysian judicial system are bound to follow the decision make by it if the illegal point facts and situation in. It has been said that islamic law and the civil law exist as parallel systems in malaysia.
After merdeka independence the restructuring and restoring of syariah courts in malaysia took more than 40 years. The juvenile court. Outside the court hierarchy are the syariah courts penghulu s courts and the native courts. For clarifications on the above please contact us via email at mccy syariah mccy gov sg or call us at 6354 8371.
As it stands today the administration of islamic law is confined to personal law for muslims and the syariah court is subordinate to the courts established by the federal. Before we kick things off a note to bear in mind is that we won t be covering the syariah courts or native courts in this article. The jurisdiction of the courts in civil or criminal matters are contained in the subordinate courts act 1948 and the courts of judicature act 1964. The magistrates courts as well as the sessions courts in malaysia have jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters.
Like how there is a court hierarchy for civil cases a similar hierarchy exists for criminal cases but it works in a slightly different manner.