Appeals court dismisses Indonesian mum's appeal for son's citizenship

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an Indonesian mother’s appeal seeking a declaration that her teenage son is a Malaysian citizen.

A three-member panel, consisting judges Azizah Nawawi, Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Azhahari Kamal Ramli, ruled that the woman failed to prove that her son is a Malaysian citizen under Article 14 (1)(b) of the Federal Constitution.

In delivering the court’s unanimous decision via Zoom, Azizah said since there was doubt about the teenager’s biological father’s identity, the requirements to obtain citizenship were not fulfilled.

She said the man who was listed as the biological father on the child’s birth certificate had later denied paternity during an investigation conducted by the National Registration Department (NRD).

Azizah said the High Court judge did not commit any error in dismissing the woman’s declaration for her son to be recognised as a Malaysian citizen.

The case involved an Indonesian woman who married a Malaysian man in 2000 and had two sons: a son born in 2004 and another born in 2010. Both children were registered as the man’s children and issued birth certificates. The court has withheld their identities.

When the younger son turned 12, he applied for a Malaysian identity card (MyKad) but his case was referred for further investigation after authorities noticed that he did not carry any physical resemblance to the man.

During the investigation, the man admitted the teenager was not his biological son and declined a DNA test. The boy’s birth certificate was subsequently seized, and the issuance of his MyKad was put on hold as the investigation was not completed.

The mother filed a lawsuit in the High Court against the NRD director-general and the government of Malaysia, seeking a declaration that her son is a Malaysian citizen and an order to compel the NRD to return the birth certificate and issue the MyKad.

On Oct 16 last year, the High Court dismissed her originating summons, prompting the appeal to the Court of Appeal.

In today’s proceedings, the mother was represented by lawyers A Srimurugan and J Gunamalar, while senior federal counsel Liew Horng Bin appeared for the NRD director-general and the government.

Srimurugan told Bernama he would bring the matter up to the Federal Court, where he would apply for leave to appeal.

- Bernama

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