Kota Kinabalu: Native Courts need clear rules to stop underage marriage, former State Law and Native Affairs Assistant Minister Datuk Jannie Lasimbang said, recounting her past push to reform the system.
“The Native Court system has no specific provisions on family matters unlike the Civil Court or Syariah Court, and considers a girl able to marry once she reaches puberty,” she said at the recent Child Safeguarding Conference.
“Once the child starts menstruating, they say she can marry,” she said, adding that this has led to child marriage cases with some girls not returning to school after becoming pregnant.
She said she pursued amendments under the Native Court Enactment while serving as Assistant Minister, a route needing only Cabinet and Head of State approval rather than the State Legislative Assembly.
“I wanted no exception. I said once a child applies to marry and is found to be 18 and under, reject it. I said there should not even be a hearing in the Native Court,” she said.
She said the proposal did not receive full Cabinet support, reflecting the sensitivity of the issue and pressure from voters whose pregnant daughters wished to marry immediately.
“A lot of our voters come and say their daughter is already pregnant, ashamed, must marry immediately, isn’t that so? That is where our Native Court is forced to allow the marriage,” she said.
As a compromise, she said a hearing before a judge was introduced to decide on marriage applications first, similar to the standard operating procedure used in the Syariah Court.
She hoped Native Courts would continue working toward a clearer procedure and that elected representatives such as Sungai Sibuga Assemblywoman Lisa Hassan Alban, who was present at the conference, would carry the reform forward.
Jannie said during her tenure, her Ministry had worked with Unicef and Pacos to gather evidence on the issue given limited data and budget, and that Pacos later conducted its own research across five districts while the Girl Guides Association raised awareness in schools.
She said media coverage had helped build public support, with Pacos and Suhakam continuing to give talks in schools.
She said a 10-year plan to end child marriage was developed during her tenure but has yet to be formally adopted following changes that saw her Ministry’s functions absorbed into the State Women, Health and People’s Wellbeing Ministry.
She said she continued advocating for the plan during her second term as Kapayan Assemblywoman.
She said Native Court officials, as political appointees, face added pressure in handling such cases, and suggested that the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary could help sustain policy efforts across changes in government through institutional memory, adding that a five-year plan on the issue already exists at the Federal level, offering room for collaboration.
“Changing laws are important, but I think changing lives is really what is required,” she said, adding that lasting reform needs shared commitment to protect children’s rights and future.
Jannie called for greater alignment between Native Court processes and Federal law, saying police in Penampang had informed her that cases involving girls under 16 remain a concern in the district, citing instances of mothers bringing pregnant daughters under 16 to hospital.
She said such cases fall under statutory rape provisions in Federal law, though some have proceeded differently through the Native Court, with families on both sides sometimes seeking recognition of marriage to avoid prosecution.
“People feel sorry for the child, feel sorry for the man too, so they find a way by bringing the case to the Native Court and say they are already married,” she said, noting this does not align with Federal law, under which even the Syariah Court only allows marriage between 16 and 18.
“As long as someone is under 16, everyone agrees it is statutory rape under Federal law. Any qualified Native Court official, if asked, must follow federal law.
Sixteen is statutory rape,” she said, calling for clearer coordination between Native Court practice and Federal law to ensure consistent protection for minors.
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