Book Title: Judicial Review of Administrative Action Across the Common Law World

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Abstract: This chapter examines the complex relationship between Syariah law on the practice of administrative law in Malaysia. While Article 3 of the Federal Constitution states that Islam is the ‘official religion’ of the Federation, all other religions are to be practised ‘in peace and harmony’. However, the Constitution further provides that it is the constituent states who regulate of religious matters, not the Federation. At the same time, Malaysian administrative law is based on English common law. This chapter attempts to make sense of the oftentimes conflicting and contradictory decisions by the courts when Syariah intersects with administrative law resulting from these complex interactions.