The Kuala Lumpur High Court has given the Herald the right to mount a legal challenge against the government ban on the Catholic weekly in using the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

herald court case 050508 Justice Lau Bee Lan, from the appellate and special powers division, read her decision to grant leave to the court to review the government order in a packed courtroom today.

In her swiftly-read judgment, she dismissed senior federal counsel Azizah Haji Nawawi’s argument that the declarations sought for by the Herald should be dealt with in a civil suit and not through a judicial review which is only restricted to orders made by the ministry.

“With regret I find the SFC’s (senior federal counsel’s) argument not substantial and I am in agreement with Porres Royan ( Herald ’s counsel) that it is premature for these issues to be raise at the leave stage.

“The issues concerning the declarations should be determined at the merit stage. The learned SFC’s objections to the declarations sought is without merit and is therefore dismissed,” she said during her 15-minute judgment.

herald court case 080805 01 On March 19, applicant Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of KL Murphy Pakiam filed for a judicial review against the internal security minister and the government over the order that banned the Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in the Bahasa Malaysia section of the publication.

The government had earlier declared that the word could only be used by Muslims and threatened to close down the newspaper if it defied the prohibition.

But while the ministry, which was then led by Johari Baharum, initially held back the weekly’s publishing licence last year, it later granted a permit with no conditions attached after an outcry from the Catholic community.

Nevertheless, the Herald proceeded with its legal action for a final resolution to the issue.

Archbishop Pakiam on behalf of the Herald is seeking the following declarations from the court:

  • leave to apply for the ministry to declare that its decision to prohibit Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in its publication is null and void; Herald is entitled to use the word ‘Allah’ in the publication and that the word ‘Allah’ is not exclusive to the religion of Islam.

  • leave to quash the ministry’s decision in prohibiting Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in its publication

  • an order for Herald to continue using ‘Allah’ in its publication until the court decides on the matter.

herald the catholic weekly online 241207 The declarations sought by the Herald became contentious in court when government lawyer Azizah submitted that they fell under private law which can only be “proven factually” by calling expert witnesses to give evidence in a civil suit.

She pointed out that the declarations would best be argued in the civil lawsuit the Herald had already filed against the government on Dec 7 last year concerning the issue.

However, Herald ’s lawyer Royan rebutted that it was premature for Azizah to raise the unsuitability of the declarations now when it is merely at the leave stage.

He also argued that the declarations sought for by the Herald fall under judicial review because it was the reason why the ministry issued the restrictive publication guidelines to the Catholic weekly.

Case now goes to full trial

herald judicial review kl court 250408 group Lawyer Derek Fernandez, who also represented the Herald , told reporters that justice Lau’s decision showed that the publication’s application is not frivolous and warranted consideration in the form of a full hearing.

“It is necessary to take this into open court so that arguments as to whether ‘Allah’ is only for the Muslim community from both sides can be heard.

“We need to have some uniformity on where this stands in regard to all religions in the country,” he said.

Also present were Pakiam’s lawyers S Selvarajah, Leonard Teoh and Annou Xavier while senior federal counsel Suzanna Atan appeared for the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

The next step is for the Herald to file an application to proceed with the case, which it will do soon. Both parties will then file and exchange affidavits before the case goes to a full trial.

herald judicial review decision 050508 father lawrence andrew porres royan The Herald 's editor Father Lawrence Andrew ( photo, left ), who was seen smiling after the judgment was delivered, said: "We are waiting for justice. We will wait and see what happens at the next stage."

The Herald , which publishes news and information for Catholics in Malaysia in four languages - English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil - has a circulation of around 12,000.