KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — The Home Ministry is responsible for the government's planned law reforms for divorces involving non-Muslim and Muslim convert spouses and those wishing to see the proposed amendments will have to ask the ministry, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said today.

Azalina, who said that she herself has not viewed the proposed Bill to amend the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, confirmed that the details of the planned legal changes have not been brought to the Cabinet “officially.”

“I think it is addressing a lot of matters, I think that's basically it but I have not seen that specific amendment Bill yet, so I can't really comment,” she told reporters here when asked if the Bill addresses unilateral child conversions.

When asked about interfaith group Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism's (MCCBCHST) request for the Bill to be made public, Azalina said the request would have to be directed to the Home Ministry as the proposed law change falls under their jurisdiction.

“You'll have to request KDN, they are the ministry in charge of the Bill because they will bring the Bill in Parliament,” said Azalina, who also oversees parliamentary affairs.

“I truly hope that it will be tabled as soon as possible as mentioned by the [prime minister] in order to give peace and certainty to many families, especially children which cannot become victims of circumstances,” she said.

Last Thursday, PM Najib said the Cabinet had agreed to table a Bill in Parliament this October to amend the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, with the amendments to see divorces for couples married under civil law to be settled in the civil courts even when one of them becomes a Muslim convert after marriage.

Najib had said the planned legal reform would iron out the problem of overlapping jurisdiction between the civil and Shariah courts.

Today, the MCCBCHST welcomed Najib's announcement with caution, noting that it was not made clear if the law reforms would address unilateral child conversions which it said was the root cause of such interfaith legal disputes.

The MCCBCHST asked for the prime minister's assurance that the law reform would address the matter and require both parents' consent before the child of a civil marriage can be converted to another religion.

Recently, Hindu mothers such as S. Deepa and M. Indira Gandhi had been involved in long drawn-out court battles regarding the custody and unilateral conversion of their children by their Muslim convert ex-husbands.

In both cases, the ex-husband snatched away one of their children, and in Deepa’s case, the Federal Court eventually granted custody of their son to the father.

In Indira’s case, her ex-husband has until today refused to hand over their youngest daughter to her despite the civil court granting her custody.