The government today failed to obtain a stay of execution on the Court of Appeal's landmark decision concerning children born out-of-wedlock.

The National Registration Department (NRD) had sought to stay the decision which ruled an edict by the National Fatwa Committee did not have the "force of law" and therefore does not need to be complied with by the NRD.

A child, which the court refused to name for the minor's protection, had challenged the NRD's rule that Muslim children born out-of-wedlock must comply with the fatwa disallowing them from carrying their father's name.

The Court of Appeal's three member bench led by Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat refused to grant the stay application.

The other judges were Justice Zaharah Yusof and Justice Abdul Rahman Sebli who wrote the 28-page landmark judgment.

Despite being denied a stay, the lawyers representing the child's family told Malaysiakini that they agreed not to enforce the Court of Appeal decision until the Federal Court motion for leave to appeal is resolved...