Former judge: High Court’s landmark ruling in Herald’s ‘Allah’ case correct

Dec 11, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court’s landmark ruling in favour of the Catholic Church’s newsletter Herald’s right to print the word “Allah” was a correct decision, former judge Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus said.

Mohd Hishamudin pointed out that the court case involved the right to freedom of religion, but said that it had ended in an unfortunate manner with much-criticised rulings by two other courts.

“Another unfortunate case, which I think the High Court judge was correct, the right of Christians to use ‘Allah’ is freedom of religion,” said Mohd Hishamudin, who retired in September as a Court of Appeal judge when he turned 66.

“The Court of Appeal decision and the Federal Court decision was criticised by Muslim scholars all over the world, nowhere in other countries Christians are disallowed from using the word Allah, only in Malaysia,” he added.

He also criticised the Federal Court’s narrow 4-3 decision in 2014 to refuse to allow the Catholic Church to appeal against a ruling that reversed its legal victory.

“How could you deny leave on such important constitutional issue?” he asked.

He was delivering a public law lecture titled “The Role of the Judiciary in Upholding Fundamental Liberties” that was jointly organised by the Universiti Malaya’s Student Representative Council and Universiti Malaya’s Law Society in conjunction with Human Rights Day.--The Malay Mail Online