Malaysia's High Court Limits Sharia Court Jurisdiction; Urges Legislative Help

Reuters today reports that Malaysia's Federal Court has ruled that Sharia tribunals cannot decide cases involving non-Muslims as one of the parties. The country's high court held that family law and religious disputes between a Muslim and a non-Muslim must be determined by the civil courts since non-Muslims cannot be present to defend themselves in Sharia courts. Meanwhile, the AP reports that Federal Court Judge Abdul Hamid Mohamad, in an opinion released Wednesday, urged the legislature to deal with the jurisdictional issue. In his written opinion (joined by two other judges) he wrote: "These are not matters that the courts can solve, as the courts owe their jurisdiction to statutes."