A parliamentary select committee should have been established to look into possible loopholes in the controversial Islamic family law which was passed last week, said the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).

The commission said the government should have set up a select committee for the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) (Amendment) Bill 2005 as was the case in the controversial amendments of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penal Code last year.

"Suhakam and other members of the public should have been given the opportunity to provide its opinions towards the bill because of its major impact on people's lives," commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan said in a statement.

Suhakam also urged the relevant authorities to adopt the 'Latimer House Guidelines for the Commonwealth' which noted that "women should be involved in the work of national law commissions in the law-making process...".

Hamdan said the commission feared the bill may not have been sufficiently debated and scrutinised by all parties concerned and the public apprehension over the amendments was acute since it may have impacted on the human rights of men and women alike.

The bill, which was passed in the Dewan Negara after a four-hour debate, should have gone through a comprehensive discussion before being approved for submission to Parliament since there are serious concerns on its impact on Muslim women's rights, he added.

Ordered to toe the line

The commissioner noted that Article 8 of the Federal Constitution guarantees gender equality, which in this sense should be "substantive equality" and the law should impose "positive duties to achieve equality".

"Substantive equality recognises that individuals cannot compete equally if they begin at different starting points. Substantive equality aims to redress disadvantages, and in this case, the bill must be able to redress disadvantaged Muslim women have been facing," he said.

Among the controversial amendments in the bill included making divorce and polygamy easier for men, give polygamous husbands the right to claim a share of their wives' property as well as being able to prohibit their spouses from disposing their property.

Women senators from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition had threatened to vote against the bill which they said is unjust and discriminated against Muslim women but were ordered by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz not to break ranks.

The bill was finally passed on Thursday in the Dewan Negara.

Mohd Hamdan criticised Nazri for demanding the senators to toe the government's line.

"Although the minister responsible for the parliamentary affairs has the right to invoke the whip, the dissenting voices for the women senators should have been taken into account, and that passing of the bill should have been delayed for further debate."

After the bill was passed, Women, Family and Community Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said she would meet the Islamic Development Department to ensure that amendments and all objections to the bill to be considered.

However, she argued that the bill had to be passed to bring uniformity in the implementation of law all across the country.