Perkasa has applied to be amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the suit filed by Mohamed Tawfik Ismail on the proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).

This would allow the Malay NGO to assist in the case without being a party to the suit.

The suit by Tawfik, who is the son of former deputy prime minister Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, seeks a declaration that the proposed amendments are unconstitutional.

"We just want to be present to inform the court, as a neutral party, on what we believe to be the relevant law on the constitutionality of the proposed amendments," Perkasa's lawyer Nizam Bashir told reporters outside the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.

Nizam said they want to bring up whether the consent or the consultation of the Conference of Rulers was required before proposed amendments to law are tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.

Judge Hanipah Farikullah fixed May 23 as the hearing date for Perkasa's application.

Tawfik filed the suit on March 31, seeking to prohibit the Dewan Rakyat from allowing PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's motion on Act 355, or any motion with similar characteristics, to be tabled and debated in Parliament.

Hadi had tabled the motion on the final day of the March-April Dewan Rakyat sitting, but speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia deferred debate on the matter to the next sitting of the House, which begins on July 24.