Section 3. Interpretation (SYARIAH COURTS EVIDENCE ENACTMENT 1990

ENACTMENT NO 1 OF 1990
SYARIAH COURTS EVIDENCE ENACTMENT 1990

PART I - RELEVANCY
CHAPTER 1 - PRELIMINARY

Section 3. Interpretation

In this Enactment, unless the context otherwise requires-

"baiyyinah" means evidence which proves a right or interest;

"baligh" means a person who has come of age according to Hukum Syara';

"Court" or "Syariah Court' means the Court of the Kadi Besar and the Court of.a Kadi constituted under section 42 of the Administdtion of the Religion of Islam and the Malay Custom of Pahang Enactment 1982;

"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 nonexistence 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;

ILLUSTRATIONS

A writing is a document.

Words printed, lithographed or photographed are documents.

A map or plan is a document.

An inscription on a metal plate or stone or wood is a document.

"evidence" includes-

(a)

shahadah

and

baiyyinah;

(b)

all statements which fhe Court permits or requires to be made before it by witnesses in relation to matters of fact under inquiry: such statements are called oral evidence;

"fact" means and includes1

(a)

any thing, state of things or relation of things capable of being perceived by the senses;

(b)

ny 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 man heard or saw something is a fact.

(d)

That a man holds a certain opinion, has a certain intention, acts in good faith or fraudulently, or uses a particular word in a particular sense, or is or was at a specified time conscious of a particular sensation, is a fact.

(e)

That a man has certain reputation is a fact;

"fact in issue" means any fact from which, either by itself or in connection with other facts, the existence, non-existence, nature or extent of any right, liability or disability asserted or denied in any suit or proceeding
necessarily follows;

ILLUSTRATIONS

is charged for an offence

mukaddimah zina

with

At his trial, the following facts may be in issue:

that

and

were together in a closed room;

that

and

were together in a vehicle parked in a dark place;

"Hukum Syara' " means the Law of the Religion of Islam in any sect which is muktabar;

"Judge" or "Syariah Judge' means a Kadi appointed under section 40 of the Admm.istration of Religion of
Islam and the Malay Custom of Pahang Enactment 1982 (Enact. 8/82), and includes the Kadi Besar;

"not proved": a fact is said to be' "not proved" when it is neither "proved" nor "disproved" according to this
Enactment;

"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;

"relevant" means fact which is connected with the other in any of the ways referred to in Hukum Syara' or is referred to in this Enactment;

"shahadah" means evidence which is permitted in Court by uttering the word "asyhadu" which proves a
right or interest.