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Law to look into messy divorces |
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Sunday, 24 August 2008 01:15pm |
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©New
Sunday Times (Used by permission)
by Gomathy Ramasamy
MALACCA: The messy issue of divorce following the conversion to Islam of one
spouse without the consent of the other is set to become less complicated.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk
Mohd Zaid Ibrahim said changes were being proposed to the Law Reform (Marriages
and Divorce) Act 1976, amendments for the Islamic Family (Federal) Law 1984 and
Administration of Islamic Law 1993, which would address all matters related to
such cases.
"Where disagreement over conversion leads to divorce, the new changes will help
both parties deal with issues pertaining to custody, maintenance and alimony."
Mohd Zaid said the new amendments were arrived at following discussions
conducted by a special committee consisting of members of JAKIM (Department of
Islamic Development Malaysia), muftis, syariah lawyers, civil lawyers,
politicians, and community leaders.
He added that he had written to both the prime minister and the deputy prime
minister and was awaiting their reply in order to table the proposed changes in
Parliament.
The changes are designed to cover every aspect of a divorce
following a spouse's conversion and is meant to be fair to both parties.
"Section 3 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act can easily be amended to
allow the Act to continue to apply in civil marriages, even when one spouse
converts to Islam.
"The spouse who converts can use the Act to get a divorce and the other party
can still get all the rights under the Act.
"The party who converts should be allowed to apply for divorce.
"In that way, he or she can resolve matters with his or her non-Muslim family
because when the (civil) court grants a divorce to the non-Muslim spouse, the
court can also make orders for custody, maintenance, division of property and so
on."
Mohd Zaid characterised the issue as a conflict between syariah and civil laws
and urged all parties not to aggravate and sensationalise the issue of conflict
over conversion, rather, concentrate on the possible solutions.
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