Lawyer asks Federal Court to declare states cannot enact criminal law

comments     Arfaeza A Aziz     Published     Updated

A senior lawyer today applied for leave seeking the Federal Court to declare that the Kelantan and Terengganu state governments have no right to enact any criminal law.

Zaid Ibrahim who is also the Kota Baru division Umno chief, made the application at the Federal Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning through his legal firm Messrs Zaid Ibrahim & Co, where he is the managing partner.

He also filed a certificate of urgency for the application to be heard as soon as possible as the Terengganu state government is planning to table the Terengganu Syariah Criminal (Hudud and Qisas) Bill at its state assembly sitting on July 7.

Zaid told reporters that as a concerned citizen, he has a responsibility to seek the declaration from the highest court in the land as he feared that if it is not settled by the court, there might be a situation where the state governments would be free to challenge the federal government.

He claimed that the Kelantan and Terengganu state governments seemed to be challenging the federal government when they moved the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (II) in 1993 and tabling the proposed hudud bill next month, respectively.

He felt that the enactment of any criminal law under any name, should be done by Parliament which is within the Federal Constitution.

Respect the Constitution

He said the Constitution had made a clear division of jurisdiction and everyone, including the state government leaders, must respect the Constitution and the law.

"If you want the public and traffic offenders to respect the law, we also expect state government leaders and legislators to respect the law," he said.

Otherwise, the public would question why mentris besar were allowed to violate the law while others are expected to respect it, Zaid added.

"This is not a question of religion or religious laws but a question of law and procedures," he said.

The application was supported by a 110-page set of documents which includes a notice of motion, Zaid's four-page affidavit, Terengganu's proposed hudud bill and Kelantan's Syariah Criminal Code which is currently awaiting Royal ascent..

No legislative power

In the motion, Zaid is seeking, among others, a declaration that the legislatures of the states including Kelantan and Terengganu "have no legislative power to pass any legislation for the creation of or the punishment of any acts punishable under Federal laws".

He is also seeking declarations that the provisions of Terengganu's hudud bill and the Kelantan syariah enactment are void and of no effect because they contain acts which are punishable under the Federal laws.

In his affidavit, Zaid said: "I feel that the fundamental liberties I personally enjoyed as a Malaysian under the Federal Constitution and as a resident of the state of Kelantan are being threatened by the proposed legislation."

He believed that the proposed legislation by the state governments is not only an infringement of the Federal Constitution but an imperfect move right from the start.

Zaid is also the founder member and the first president of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Malaysia, and the Consumers Association of Kelantan.



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