Arifin (centre) with Rural Development Minister Datuk Jahid Jahim (left) and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun at the State Assembly.
KOTA KINABALU (July 11): Nine enactment bills related to Islamic affairs in Sabah were passed at the State Legislative Assembly in the past two days.
On Wednesday, four bills were tabled and passed namely the Syariah Courts Enactment Bill 2024, Sabah Islamic Religious Council (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Syariah Court Evidence (Amendement) Bill 2024 and the Syariah Court Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2024.
Meanwhile, five bills that were tabled and passed on Thursday were the Syariah Criminal Procedure Enactment (Amendment) Bill 2024, Islamic Family Law Enactment (Amendment) Bill 2024, Zakat and Fitrah (Amendment) Enactment Bill 2024, Waqf Enactment (State of Sabah) (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the Syariah Criminal Offenses Enactment (Amendment) Bill 2024.
All the bills were tabled by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif.
“We will continue the agenda of empowering the Syariah judiciary in Sabah and will table several more bills in the future, including the inheritance bill, the Muslim adoption bill, the bill to empower Syariah lawyers, and bills related to the conciliation and hakam.
“In the past four years from 2020 to 2024, a total of 7,277 Syariah related cases were recorded in Sabah, with 5,976 cases already completed and the remaining 1,301 still pending
“For the record also, there are 189 Syarie lawyers in Sabah at the moment, of which only 72 are actively practicing,” he said when wrapping up his speech after hearing several assemblymen debating the five bills on Thursday
Arifin, who is also the state’s Islamic Affairs Exco, said a committee will be created for the improvement, empowerment and acceleration of the agenda to solve problems related to the Syariah Court.
This committee will be chaired by Arifin, with committee members from the Sabah Malaysian Syariah Justice Department, the Sabah Islamic Religious Council, the Sabah State Islamic Affairs Department, JAKIM, the Sabah State Attorney’s Office, the Sabah State Public Service Department and several related agencies to find the source of power in Syariah judicial field.
According to Arifin, most of the pending cases were due to the shortage of judges and enforcement team in Sabah, and it is something that needed to be addressed immediately.
“We are looking for several ways to solve this problem. We are requesting more judges and enforcement officers; at the same time, we are also looking if there is a possibility of appointing contract officers.
“We are also studying how to separate the prosecution department from Sabah Islamic Religious Council to avoid abuse of power,” he added.
Arifin also said there will be more trained enforcement officers and potential judges in the future, as the state government will be training more diploma graduates in Islamic administration.
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