SHAH ALAM, July 25 — The Selangor State Legislative Assembly today passed two bills related to the administration of the Shariah courts to conduct case proceedings using remote communication technology.

The bills — the Islamic Religious Administration Enactment Bill (State of Selangor) (Amendment) 2022 and Syariah Court Proceedings (State of Selangor) (Amendment) Bill Enactment 2022 — were tabled by the state Islamic Religious Affairs, Consumer Affairs and Halal Industry Committee chairman, Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, before being debated by seven assemblymen and subsequently passed by the state assembly.

Mohd Zawawi, at a press conference, said that with the approval, previous cases that were conducted online at the Shariah Court in Selangor were now certified as valid.

"If we look at the number of cases conducted online by the courts in all districts from 2020 to July 2022, there are 1,184 wakalah cases; affidavit administration (659 cases) and sulh (mediation) (15 cases).

"Alhamdulillah, today the state assembly approved the amendments and today both of these amendments have been approved to be gazetted,” he said, adding that the amendment came into force on April 17, 2020.

He said that Selangor became the first state in Malaysia to approve the gazetting of the bill.

"In terms of gazettement, Selangor is the first state to have such an enactment. However, Penang has already used remote communication under the court’s discretion.

Earlier Mohd Zawawi, when tabling the enactment, said that the Selangor Syariah Judiciary Department (JAKESS) facing physical constraints over court proceedings due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in delayed cases.

"The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has also caused case proceedings at JAKESS to be delayed, which indirectly caused cases in the Shariah courts to be backlogged. JAKESS has taken the initiative to conduct proceedings online from April 17, 2020, to address the issue, especially during the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"However, there is a loophole in the existing legal provisions in relation to the authority of the Shariah Court to conduct proceedings using remote technology,” he said.

Therefore, he said, JAKESS proposed amendments to the existing laws to create a provision that empowers the Shariah court to conduct case proceedings using remote communication technology. — Bernama