COMMENT | Syariah law case: Making a mountain out of a molehill?

COMMENT | On May 25, 2022, Kelantan-born lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman filed a petition to challenge the constitutionality of 18 provisions in the Kelantan’s Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019.

The basis of the petitioners' claim is rather straightforward, which is that the Kelantan state legislative assembly did not have the required powers to create those 18 syariah provisions in state law.

Her constitutional challenge is made pursuant to Article 128(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution. Since the court's jurisdiction has been invoked to declare the validity of such a state law, the federal court is the sole competent authority to make such a declaration pursuant to Article 4 (4) of the apex law.

Legally speaking, challenging the invalidity or constitutionality of any law - even a religious enactment - is...