Mums Can Confer Citizenship On Children Born Overseas Declares Court

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The High Court has declared that mothers are entitled to confer citizenship by operation of law in all processes, just like fathers.KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has ruled that the government must grant citizenship by operation of law to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers.
Judge Akhtar Tahir, who delivered his verdict through a remote proceeding, said the word “father” in the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution must mean and include mothers.
In allowing several declaratory reliefs sought by an NGO and six mothers that certain provisions on citizenship in the Federal Constitution are discriminatory, he said they were entitled to confer citizenship by operation of law in all processes, just like fathers.
“The judge came to this verdict after a harmonious reading of several articles in the Constitution,” said lead counsel Gurdial Singh Nijar.
The senior lawyer said the judge also made an order that all authorities must issue the relevant documents like identity cards to these children.
Gurdial said there was no order to costs as it was a public interest issue.
Senior federal counsel Liew Horng Bin appeared for the government.
Gurdial, who was assisted by Abraham Au, Joshua Andran and Gan Pei Fern, took a strong position that there could be no gender discrimination as Parliament in 2000 had amended Article 8.
That article states all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.
The applicants last year filed the suit to get the court to declare several provisions – namely Article 14(1)(b) and Sections 1(b) and 1(c) under the Second Schedule of the Constitution – invalid because they were discriminatory to women.
They claimed that the Constitution only allowed a father to pass his citizenship to his children born outside the federation, but a mother cannot do so. - FMT

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