ENACTMENT NO. 16 OF 1992 SYARIAH COURTS EVIDENCE ENACTMENT 1992
PART I - RELEVANCY CHAPTER 1 - PRELIMINARY
Section 3. Interpretation.
In this Enactment, unless the context otherwise requires-
“baligh” means a person who has attained the age of puberty according to Islamic Law;
“bayyinah” means evidence which proves a right or interest and includes qarinah;
“Court” means any Court established by the Syariah Courts Enactment l992;
“disproved” a fact is said to be ‘disproved’ when, after considering the matters before it, the Court either believes that it does not exist or considers its non-existence so probable that a prudent man ought, under the circumstances of the particular case, to act upon the supposition that it does not exist;
“document” means any matter expressed or described upon any substance by means of letters, figures or marks or by more than one of those means intended to be used or which may be used for the purpose of recording that matter.
ILLUSTRATION
A writing is a document.
Words printed, lithographed or photographed are documents.
A map or plan is a document.
An inscription on a metal or stone or wood is a document;
“evidence” includes-
(a) bayinah or syahadah;
(b) all statements which the Court permits or requires to be made before it by witness in relation to matters of fact under inquiry; such statements are called oral evidence;
(c) all documents produced for the inspection of the Court; such documents are called documentary evidence;
“fact” means and includes-
(a) any thing, state of things or relation of things capable of being perceived by the senses;
(b) any mental condition of which any person is conscious.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) That there are certain objects arranged in a certain order in a certain place is a fact.
(b)That a person heard or saw something is a fact.
(c) That a person said certain words is a fact.
(d) That a person holds a certain opinion, has a certain intention, acts in good faith or fraudulently or uses a particular word in particular sense, or is at a specified time conscious of a particular sensation is a fact.
(e) That a person has a certain good reputation is a fact;
“fact in issue” means any fact from which, either by itself or in connection with other facts, the existence or non-existence, nature or extent of any right, liability asserted or denied in any suit or proceeding necessarily follows.
ILLUSTRATION
A is accused of khalwat with B.
At his trial the following facts may be in issue:
That ‘A’ was with ‘B’ in a closed room. That ‘A’ was with ‘B’ inside a car park in a dark place;
“Islamic Law” means Islamic law in any approved Mazhab;
“proved”, a fact is said to be “proved” when, after considering the matters before it, the Court either believes it to exist or considers its existence so probable that a prudent man ought under the circumstances of the particular case, to act upon the supposition that it exists;
“qarinah” means a fact connected with another fact in any of the ways referred to in Islamic Law or described in this Enactment;
“syahadah” means evidence considered to be the truth given in a Court by using the expression ‘Asshadu’ in order to establish a right or interest of a person against another, and if it is so established, it binds the Judge.