Open AccessIs Unilateral Conversion The Best Solution
Author(s) -
Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
islam and civilisational renewal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2041-8728
pISSN - 2041-871X
DOI - 10.52282/icr.v9i3.109
Subject(s) - plural , law , constitution , legal guardian , guardian , judgement , supreme court , political science , argument (complex analysis) , federal court , trial court , sociology , linguistics , medicine , philosophy
The issue of unilateral conversion of minors has once again generated widespread uproar in Malaysia when the Federal Court unanimously decided, in the case of Indira Ghandi on 29 January 2018, that both the parents consent was required in determining the faith of minors. In Malaysia, Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution provides that "For the purposes of Clause (3) the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian." The Federal Court held, in this case, that the word 'parent' must be understood in the plural form, denoting both 'parents, based on Schedule Eleven of the Federal Constitution and sections 5 and 11 of the Guardianship Act 1961. This decision marked a departure from the previous Federal Court judgement in Subashini (2007) in which parent was defined as one of the parents. The Federal Court in the Indira Ghandi case also rejected the argument put forth by some parties that the decision in the case of Susie Teoh (1990), who voluntarily converted to Islam at the age of 16, had a bearing on the interpretation of the word parent as singular or plural.