A 27-year-old woman from Sarawak, who converted to Islam seven years ago to marry a Muslim man, was granted a court order by the Court of Appeal today to initiate a judicial review to seek the restoration of her original Christian identity.
The panel, comprising Datuk Supang Lian, Datuk Lim Chong Fong, and Datuk Ahmad Fairuz, unanimously allowed the woman's appeal to overturn the High Court's decision on September 21, 2023, which had refused her request to initiate a judicial review.
In her online ruling, Supang Lian stated that the court found the High Court judge had wrongly imposed a higher burden of proof on the appellant (the Sarawak woman) to show that her request for a court order was not frivolous.
“We believe that, when refusing to issue the court order, the High Court judge prematurely delved into the merits of the arguments from both sides, rather than merely confirming whether there were significant points that needed determination in the judicial review hearing.”
She emphasized that the application should not be rejected on the grounds that the first respondent (the Federal Territories Registrar of Converts) had no relevant duties concerning the request for a mandatory order.
“The appellant's appeal has merit and is thereby approved, and the decision of the High Court is overturned. The appellant is granted the order to initiate a judicial review in the High Court.”
The woman's lawyer is Ikbal, and federal counsel Shalruddin represents the government.
The woman's parents are Christians, and she filed the application for a judicial review order on April 20, 2023, naming the Federal Territories Registrar of Converts, Federal Territories Islamic Council, and the government as the first to third respondents.
She seeks a declaration that the 1993 Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act empowers the first respondent to declare that a person is no longer a Muslim.
She requests her name to be immediately removed from the register of converts and deems the failure or delay to decide on her applications submitted on January 30, February 20, and March 17, 2023, as unreasonable.
In her affidavit supporting her application, she stated she converted to Islam on August 18, 2017, after a Malay Muslim man proposed to her.
However, in an affidavit dated January 27, 2022, she stated that she seeks to leave Islam and return to her Christian identity and requested the removal of her name from the aforementioned register, but the Registrar of Converts has not responded.