THE Court of Appeal will deliver its verdict on the government’s bid to overturn a lower court ruling that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers married to foreigners are entitled to automatic Malaysian citizenship on June 22.

Justice Kamaludin Md Said, who chaired a three-member panel, fixed the date after counsels representing the respective parties completed making their submissions before the court.

“We need more time to deliberate as the cases are important and of public interest,” he said.

Kamaludin, who presided with Justices Azizah Nawawi and S. Nantha Balan, heard the appeals of two cases – involving the Association of Family Support and Welfare Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (Family Frontiers) and six Malaysian women married to foreigners and a woman born overseas to a Malaysian mother.

For the first case, Putrajaya, the Home Ministry and National Registration Department (NRD) director-general are appealing against the High Court decision on September 9, which rules that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers have the automatic right to be Malaysians.

For the second case, Mahisha Sulaiha Abdul Majeed, who was born to a Malaysian mother and Indian father in India, is appealing against the High Court’s dismissal of her suit on August 19, 2020, in which she sought declarations that she is entitled to Malaysian citizenship.

In the online proceedings, senior federal counsel Liew Horng Bin argued that children born abroad to Malaysian mothers married to foreigners should not be given automatic citizenship under article 4(1) of the Federal Constitution.

He said the only recourse for them to get citizenship is to apply to be registered as citizens to the NRD, as provided under article 15(2) of the Federal Constitution.

The High Court judge has rewritten the constitution by granting citizenship to the children, he added.

He said the use of the word “father” in sections 1(b) and 1(c) of the second schedule, part II of the Federal Constitution is deliberate and does not connote “mother”, adding that the provisions are not discriminatory.

The sections state that anyone born outside the country, whose father is a Malaysian citizen, is considered a citizen by default by operation of law.

High Court judge Akhtar Tahir’s decision to allow children born overseas to Malaysian mothers married to foreigners to be entitled to citizenship by operation of law meant that he held the word “father” to include mothers.

He also ruled that article 14(1)(b) together with section 1(b) of the constitution must be read in harmony with article 8(2) of the constitution, which prohibits gender-based discrimination.

Lawyer Gurdial Singh Nijar, who appeared for Family Frontiers and the six women, argued that interpretation of the citizenship provisions cannot discriminate against a person born overseas on the mere fact that he or she is born to a Malaysian mother and not a Malaysian father.

He said based on the present practice and interpretation of law, children born abroad whose fathers are Malaysians married to foreigners are entitled to automatic citizenship, but not so for children born abroad whose mothers are Malaysians married to foreigners.

He said the interpretation of law and adopted procedures and practices are discriminatory and in violation of his clients’ constitutional rights under article 8 of the constitution.

The mothers wanted a court order for all relevant government agencies, including the NRD, Immigration Department and Malaysian embassies, to issue documents relating to citizenship to children born abroad to Malaysian mothers married to foreigners. – Bernama, March 23, 2022.