KUALA LUMPUR – The Court of Appeal will decide on June 22 on whether to allow the federal government’s appeal against a landmark ruling allowing automatic citizenship for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers.
Last September, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in favour of Family Frontiers and six mothers, who filed an originating summons seeking equal rights for Malaysian women married to foreign nationals to register their children as Malaysian citizens.
In his judgment, high court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir said the interpretation of the word “father” must be read to include mothers when it comes to conferring citizenship to children of Malaysian nationals.
Abraham Au, who represented Family Frontiers in the hearing before the Court of Appeal earlier today, said the federal government had argued that the high court judgement oversteps the jurisdiction of Parliament as any constitutional amendments must be done by the august House and not the courts.
“However, we countered that there is actually no need for constitutional amendments in this case because Article 8(2) of the federal constitution, which prohibits gender discrimination, already exists,” Au told The Vibes when contacted.
“The interpretation of Article 14(1)(b) of the constitution, together with the Second Schedule, Part II, Section 1(b) pertaining to citizenship rights, therefore, should be read in harmony with other provisions.”
Family Frontiers said in a statement that the government is letting go of a “golden opportunity” to undo years of discrimination against Malaysian women by appealing against the high court ruling.
“The government’s appeal sends a clear message that it believes women occupy an inferior legal status to that of Malaysian men…as long as the government defends the status quo, the concept of Keluarga Malaysia will ring hollow,” it said, referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s tagline.
Earlier, the Court of Appeal dismissed an application by the government for a stay of execution of the high court ruling, pending the results of its appeal. – The Vibes, March 23, 2022
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