On A Mission To Strengthen Muslim Families – Guy Ghazali ’05

Former District Judge and Assistant Registrar of the Family Justice Courts, NUS Law alumna Guy Ghazali ’05 was recently appointed as Senior President of the Syariah Court. She takes over the reins from Ustaz Alfian, who is currently pursuing his PhD at NUS Law. In the 27 July 2020 ST article announcing her appointment, Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir, the Mufti of Singapore (Singapore’s highest Islamic authority) praised Guy’s “depth of knowledge of the Singapore legal system and her experience in Muslim family law through her work in the appeal board”, which put her in good stead to lead the Syariah Court.

LawLink caught up with Guy to find out more about her journey to, and aspirations for, her new role.

What made you decide to read law?

I had always wanted to pursue a career that has a human touch. My late father suggested that I consider law as an option. I remember attending the Law Open House in 2001 and the then NUS Law Dean, Professor Tan Cheng Han, SC, addressed us. At the end of his speech, I was set on pursuing law.

What are your fondest memories of NUS Law?

One of my fondest memories was being part of the NUS Law IV musical production, put together by the graduating batch of 2005. I was in the marketing and publicity teams. There was great camaraderie; the different teams involved worked towards a common mission and there was sheer satisfaction at the end – after all the blood, sweat and tears!

Another fond memory I have is that we used to have mailboxes that were used by the school to deposit our notes. These mailboxes were also sometimes used to surprise friends with notes and gifts.

Please share with us your career journey since NUS Law and what were some of the considerations along the way?

After graduation, I spent pupillage and a further nine years in Tan Rajah & Cheah (“TRC”). TRC believed in young lawyers having broad-based training rather than specialisation from the start. I was doing a variety of civil and commercial litigation work, including family law work, under numerous partners. I learnt a lot as I was exposed to different styles of work and legal thinking. I assisted in arbitration, mediation, matters in the State Courts and the Family Justice Courts (as they are now known), the High Court and the Court of Appeal, the Syariah Court and the MUIS Appeal Board.

In my third or fourth year, I started to focus my practice on personal law matters such as family law and probate/ succession planning work for both non-Muslim and Muslim clients. I was also involved in the Law Society’s Family Law Practice Committee, Muslim Law Practice Committee and the Probate Practice Committee.

That continued to be my primary area of practice until I decided to join the Legal Service in 2015. I spent the next 5 years in the Family Justice Courts before being posted to the Syariah Court on
1 August 2020.

For those who may not be familiar, could you tell us about the main work of the Syariah Court and how does it interact with the Family Justice Courts (“FJC”)?

The Syariah Court (“SYC”) deals with Muslim divorces and makes orders on the ancillary matters such as division of matrimonial assets; nafkah iddah (maintenance for generally a period of three months after the divorce); mutaah (consolatory gift paid by the husband upon divorce); custody, care and control and access of children.

FJC deals with the enforcement of SYC’s orders and may also make orders for the maintenance of wife (during the subsistence of the marriage) and the maintenance of children.

SYC also issues the certificate of inheritance setting out the shares that beneficiaries are entitled to in intestacy while FJC issues the Grant of Probate/ Letters of Administration.

Please share your thoughts on taking up the Senior President role – what are your aspirations and priorities?

The first thing that I aspire to do is to live up to and uphold the vision of SYC, which is “to be a reliable, dynamic & just court which inspires confidence”.

As the Court that administers justice in the area of Muslim family law, SYC has to be in the forefront of the development of Muslim family law jurisprudence in Singapore through our judgments and case law and explore strategies to make our judgments more readily accessible to the legal fraternity and the public.

It is also important for SYC to work closely with its community partners. This is important because in the marriage and divorce ecosystem, the Court is only one of the many actors. The upstream efforts designed to strengthen families or to resolve/minimise disputes or acrimony when the families are in distress) and the post-divorce efforts (to enable parties to transit out of the court process amicably and to facilitate healing) are as important as the court experience. There must also be appropriate interventions and approaches to minimise the impact of divorce litigation on children.

Although SYC is an institution that deals with Muslim divorces, our mission includes saving marriages and encouraging reconciliations, where possible. As such, we are always looking at working with other agencies and our Asatizah (religious scholars) on how we can strengthen Muslim families as we recognise that the family is the basic unit and the bedrock of the community.

As SYC administers Muslim law, we also look forward to working with our Asatizah to explore how they can contribute their knowledge and expertise that are relevant to the work that we do in SYC – whether as counsellors, arbitrators (hakam), mediators and even adjudicators as future SYC judges.

What does it mean to you to be the first female to be appointed to this role in Singapore?

I believe that appointments in an organisation are made based on the organisation’s needs at that particular time and the organisation’s assessment as to how these appointments can fulfil those needs, irrespective of gender. Whilst this is the first time that a female Senior President has been appointed, it is not uncommon for females to be performing a judicial role in SYC and the MUIS Appeal Board. Before my appointment, we already have a female President in the Syariah Court, female Registrars and female members of the Appeal Board. Therefore, the appointment of the Senior President, irrespective of gender, is a natural extension and progression in this context.

Also, what I find significant in the present appointment, is that we now have a bench of SYC judicial officers with a breadth of expertise and knowledge – a good mix of religious scholars and those with court administration and legal practice experience. This can only be beneficial to the parties that appear before us and the families that we serve.

What fills your weekends?

I spend most of my weekends with my family – either going out or spending quality time at home. My idea of relaxing is to spend some quiet time reading.