KUALA LUMPUR – The Kelantan state legislative assembly has unanimously passed a motion to re-enact 16 provisions under the state’s shariah criminal enactment, which had been declared unconstitutional by the Federal Court last month, now slated for reinforcement in the state.
The motion, declared by the Federal Court on February 9, was read by the Kelantan state assembly speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, and received unanimous agreement from all members, including those from the opposition.
Mohd Amar said that the state assembly has urged the reconsideration and redrafting of previously nullified provisions.
He said the state assembly also expressed deep sorrow over the nullification of the 16 provisions of the state’s Shariah Criminal Code (I) 2019.
The Federal Court had struck out 16 out of 18 provisions in the state’s shariah law in favour of Kelantan lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter, Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman, last month.
In an 8-1 split majority decision, a nine-person bench chaired by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat ruled that the state assembly had no power to enact the 16 provisions, as the offences in question fell within the purview of federal law.
In the judgment that was read out, Tengku Maimun said that the court granted the petition on the grounds that the state assembly had enacted the laws beyond the list in the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
The Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019, which lists 68 offences, was gazetted in December 2020. – March 6, 2024