A general view of the Federal Court in Putrajaya December 14, 2020. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — A teenager born in Kuala Lumpur and adopted by a Malaysian couple in Penang will now no longer be stateless, as the Federal Court today declared that he is entitled to be a Malaysian citizen.
In a unanimous decision, the five-judge panel in the country’s highest court said that the facts showed that the boy would fall under constitutional provisions that would prevent children abandoned at birth in Malaysia from becoming stateless.
Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat who chaired the panel said the Federal Court had decided to set aside previous decisions at the High Court and Court of Appeal which had rejected citizenship bids for the boy, now aged 17.
The Federal Court granted three orders in favour of the child, identified only as CYM to protect his identity.
“We hereby grant the following orders — a declaration that C** is a citizen by operation of law by virtue of his birth in Malaysia, pursuant to Article 14(1)(b) read together with Section 19B of the Second Schedule,” she said in reading out a brief summary of the panel’s decision in an online hearing.
Children walk past a mural featuring the Jalur Gemilang in Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2020. – Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri
The two other orders were for a certiorari order to quash the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths Malaysia’s September 21, 2017 decision to issue a birth certificate which had registered the child as a non-citizen instead of a Malaysian citizen, and a mandamus order to direct the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths Malaysia to “reissue the birth certificate of the child to register the child as a citizen of Malaysia.”
The four other judges who decided on this case are Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan, Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.
MORE TO COME
**The child’s name is only identified as C at the request of the child’s lawyers.