An interfaith group has welcomed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's announcement of amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (LRA) but says it does so with caution.

The proposed amendments, which will reportedly be tabled in the sitting of Parliament in October, are intended to ensure that divorce involving civil marriages must be settled in a civil court, Najib said, even if one of the spouses has converted to Islam.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) said it welcomed Najib's statement with caution, because he did not state that the issue of conversion of minors would be addressed.

Not only that, the group pointed out, the cabinet had twice before proposed amendments to the LRA, but those amendments still allowed a single parent to unilaterally convert a child from civil marriage.

"The root cause of the problem is the conversion of minors by a single parent. This issue was not addressed in the prime minister's statement," MCCBCHST said in a statement today.

It questioned whether the cabinet would abide by its decision, made in April 2009, that both parents must consent before a child from a civil marriage can be converted to another religion.

"This is the crux of the problem. Therefore the prime minister must assure the people that the proposed amendments will address this issue, and that a single parent cannot convert a minor without the consent of the other spouse," MCCBCHST said.

Women lawyers too concerned about its secrecy

The NGO also called for copies of the bill that is to be tabled in Parliament to be made available to the public.

Similarly, the Association of Women Lawyers Malaysia (AWL) also called for the bill to be made public, saying that it is concerned about the secrecy of the bill.

While AWL also welcomed the prime minister's statement, it said that as the amendments would impact families across the country, the bill should have been drafted after consultations with stakeholders in the matter.

"We call upon the government to provide a copy of the proposed bill to the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), which has consistently engaged with the government on various aspects of reforms to the LRA, as well as the legal repercussions of the conversion of a spouse in a civil marriage, and the unilateral conversion of minor children of such marriages," AWL said in its statement today.

It also pointed out that it is unclear how the proposed amendments would address what happens after a unilateral conversion has taken place.

The proposed amendments also lack clarity on what legislative and other policy measures would be necessary to halt the unilateral conversion of children in a civil marriage.

"Given that these amendments will have serious ramifications, AWL calls on the government to provide full disclosure on the proposed amendments to be tabled and for the participation of JAG in the consultative process prior to the tabling of the said amendments," AWL said.