KUALA LUMPUR: The state legislative assembly is to be blamed for misleading the rule of law, said the mother-daughter duo who initiated the constitutional challenge against Kelantan Syariah Law.
Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman said they are not attacking the syariah system as many have pointed out after the apex court's ruling that 16 provisions in Kelantan criminal enactments are unconstitutional.
"The one who is challenging is the state legislative assembly," said the syariah trained lawyers during an exclusive interview on the New Straits Times' Beyond the Headlines podcast.
"If somebody were to be charged under the 16 provisions that were declared unconstitutional, they (still) could have challenged it," said Tengku Yasmin.
She echoed the statement made by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat that the law being challenged was not determined or ordained by Allah, but by the State Legislature implemented by the Syariah Court.
"The very important thing that we need to say is that the (challenged) syariah criminal enactment is takzir (man-made laws). It is not hudud. It is not qisas," said Nik Elin.
Yesterday, the Federal Court ruled that 16 provisions in Kelantan Syariah Law are unconstitutional.
Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who led a nine-member panel of judges, made the landmark decision to rule 16 out of the 18 provisions unconstitutional, challenged by both Nik Elin and her daughter.
ALSO READ: https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2024/02/1011445/heres-list-16-k...
The only two provisions that remain status quo (constitutional) in the list are selling or giving away a child to non-Muslims or morally reprehensible Muslims (Section 13) and words capable of breaking peace (Section 30).
More of this interview will be out on the full episode of Beyond the Headlines tomorrow (Feb 11), at 9am. Catch it on NST's YouTube channel, NST Online.