Kota Kinabalu: One of the causes for backlog of Syariah Court cases is the lack of judges.
Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin bin Mohd Arif said the Malaysian Syariah Judiciary Department/Syariah Court’s help would be sought to increase Syariah judges in Sabah, which may take time as the problem is also prevalent in other states.
He would also seek the advice of the Sabah Attorney-General to discuss with the Public Service Department on the possibility appointing Syarie lawyers on contract basis to become Syariah judges.
“If there are no obstacles, we hope to appoint a Syarie lawyer as a Syariah Lower Court judge on a contractual basis and will appoint a registrar for each district.
“This will also be extended to many districts to have at least one Syariah Lower Court judge to handle the cases and a registrar to run the administration and registration of Syariah cases,” said the State Science Technology and Innovation Minister.
Kota Kinabalu, Dr Mohd Arifin said, will have more Syariah Lower Court judges and this will be discussed with Muis to appoint Syariah officers as the judges including for Syariah High Court.
“We need about two Syariah Lower Court judges and another 20 for courts at district-level and appoint research officers to facilitate this matter because all payment of fines imposed by the Syariah judges are channelled to Muis.
“I believe some of the fines should be returned to the Malaysia Syariah Judiciary Department, Sabah,” he said.
More local youths would be sent to pursue studies in Islamic administration at Diploma level where Muis will get scholarships from other agencies to finance their studies.
When they graduate, they can at least be appointed as Syariah Lower Court judges in Sabah.
He said Sabah has about 200 enforcement officers appointed through Jheains to deal with Syariah criminal offences.
To further empower the Syariah Courts judiciary and legislation, he plans to bring more Bills that will further strengthen the Syariah laws and Courts, namely Inheritance Bill, Adoption of Muslim Children Bill, and Bills related to Muis matters.
On statistics of Syariah Criminal offences in Sabah, from 2020 until 2024, the State recorded 7,277 cases and of the figure, 6,976 were resolved.
