The Bar Council today called on the government and judiciary to be pro-active in protecting the custody rights of non-Muslim parents.

While welcoming the government's commitment to "ensure" freedom of religion and the maintenance of other fundamental constitutional rights, the council questioned the government's belief that current laws are "sufficient" for this purpose.

"In reality, the desired effect of these laws is not achieved. Many non-Muslim parents continue to endure hardship in matters relating to family and children," said council vice-chairperson Yeo Yang Poh in a statement.

He cited the case of Shamala Sathiyaseelan as being typical of the predicament faced by non-Muslim parents when one of them decides to convert to Islam and when their minor children are converted without the consent of the other parent.

"The non-Muslim parent (almost invariably the mother) being a joint guardian at law, goes to the civil court to challenge the children's conversion. The court declines jurisdiction and advises her to seek redress from the Syariah court, ignoring the fact that this is an obvious non-viable option," he said.

"She has no right of audience before the Syariah court and more importantly, it is unacceptable in principle to subject her to a system that does not apply to her."

Yeo said Syariah courts function on a vastly different set of rules that is not meant to and should not affect Shamala or any other parent in the same situation.

Effective safeguards

On the matter of custody, he noted that there is often a related issue when both parents obtain a custody order issued by different courts.

He said in the civil court and the Syariah court, the non-Muslim parent is usually left in the lurch, and without a practical remedy.

"It is most unhelpful that the system gives rise to competing orders of nature. The resultant tug-of-war is surely not in the interests of the children," he added.

Yeo said constitutional guarantees of freedom and equality would remain illusory if such situations are allowed to continue.

"When human suffering persists despite assurances of a person's rights, what is required of the system is to immediately find ways to transform conceptual guarantees that are cold comfort to the affected parties, into effective safeguards that can be relied upon," he added.

He called on for laws to be strengthened and made clearer and for the judiciary to preserve fundamental rights so that "never again will any mother be left in despair and be compelled to resort to drastic measures in her honest desire to protect the interests of her children".