KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — Malaysia placed 130th out of 197 countries in providing court access to children to protect their rights, according to research by Children Rights International Network (CRIN) released today.
The study tied Malaysia with the twin island country of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean and Vanuatu in the South Pacific and lower than some notable nations with dubious child’s rights records including India (43), Bangladesh (63), and Sierra Leone (94) though higher than China which ranked 162nd worldwide.
Among its Southeast Asian neighbours, Malaysia scored poorer than the Philippines (58), Thailand (104), Vietnam (114), Singapore (120), Indonesia (122) but stood above Myanmar (145), Cambodia (166), Laos (184), and Brunei (187).
Belgium claimed the top spot in providing the best access to legal justice for children, followed by Portugal and Spain in third place. Equatorial Guinea in central Africa bottomed out at 197th place.
The CRIN report titled “Rights, Remedies and Representation” pointed out that while Malaysia has agreed to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it has yet to legislate it, which rendered the rights of children ineffective against existing laws.
“The CRC does not take precedence over any conflicting provisions of Malaysian law. The CRC has not been incorporated into national law.
“However, some of its provisions are implemented by national legislation, most
notably the Child Act 2001,” the report read.
According to the Unicef website, the CRC is an international treaty ratified by 194 countries that explicitly state all children should “benefit from special protection measures and assistance.”
The CRIN report also notes Malaysia’s justice system runs on two parallel tracks, namely the civil courts and the Shariah courts, which can be potentially detrimental to families of “mixed religious backgrounds.”
“The Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed concern that this could give rise to inconsistent treatment of children.
“Shariah law applies to Muslims, while civil law applies to non-Muslims, and the two legal systems could result in uncertainty among families of mixed religious background and potentially unequal levels of protection for children of different backgrounds in the courts,” the report said.
Additionally, the report also points out that legal aid is only available to children who “qualify under a stringent means test.”
The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, however, is expected to table amendments to the Child Act 2001 during the March Parliamentary session to observe the CRC which would see more child participation in the ministry’s policy making, punishments that focus more on community service, and the reduction of institutionalisation of minors.
Malaysia has yet to agree to five issues in the CRC, namely Article 2, pertaining to non-discrimination; Article 7, pertaining to birth registration and nationality; Article 14, pertaining to freedom of thought and religion, Article 28(1)(a), pertaining to compulsory and free primary education for all; and Article 37, pertaining to torture, cruel and inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment.
