Fadli Fawzi on Administration of Muslim Law (Amendment) Bill

MP Fadli Fawzi welcomed the Bill's codification of child welfare as the paramount consideration in custody cases but sought clarity on the Syariah Court's unique therapeutic and structural models. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday (Nov 3) as a practising Syariah Court lawyer, he asked if the court's in-house therapeutic specialists will eventually be trained to write child custody evaluation reports directly, mirroring the Family Justice Courts (FJC) model rather than relying on external psychologists. He requested clarification on why, unlike the FJC, the Syariah Court appoints social science professionals as child representatives instead of experienced family lawyers, and asked for their minimum qualifications and empanelling criteria. He highlighted the shared concurrent jurisdiction between the civil and Syariah systems. He further urged the government to relocate the Syariah Court closer to the mainstream judiciary, questioning why it remains administratively managed under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth instead of being integrated directly into the independent judicial branch.