Citizens must be allowed to test laws deemed unlawful, says lawyer

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: It is not up to the law minister to deter challenges to unconstitutional shariah laws, a lawyer said, amid an apex court ruling which declared last week that the Selangor legislature is incompetent to pass a law which criminalises unnatural sex.

Syed Iskandar Syed-Jaafar-al-Mahdzar said every citizen has a constitutionally-guaranteed right of access to justice.

“As a lawyer, the minister should know that any attempt to deter access to justice is a serious contempt of court. The House of Lords in Raymond v Honey laid this down,” he said.

Instead, of trying to interfere with the justice system, Syed Iskandar said Takiyuddin Hassan should ensure that no unconstitutional laws were passed by state legislators.


- More -