PETALING JAYA: The country’s Apex Court has set Feb 13 as the date to decide if a child conceived out of wedlock can bear his father’s surname.
The registrar of the court has decided that a seven-judge panel will deliver judgment on the matter on Thursday at 9am.
Nizam Bashir, the lawyer representing the child and his family has acknowledged receipt of the court’s letter concerning the appeal.
The case concerns a boy who was born less than 6 months after his parent’s marriage, which is considered illegitimate under Islamic law.
The parents attempted to register the father’s name on the birth certificate at the National Registration Department (NRD), but it carried the name “bin Abdullah” instead.
An application was then made to remove the “bin Abdullah” to be substituted with the father’s name, but it was rejected by NRD which claimed the child was illegitimate.
This resulted in the parents seeking a judicial review at High Court.
The family lost the case in the High Court but appealed to the Court of Appeal where they won. Appeal judge Abdul Rahman Sebli stated NRD should determine if the parents had fulfilled requirements under the Births and Deaths Registration Act (BDRA). Furthermore, as the BDRA is a federal law, it applies to both Muslim and non-Muslim illegitimate children.
Suzana Atan, the lawyer representing NRD has argued that a Muslim father’s name cannot be registered under the BDRA.
