AWARE responded to the ongoing consultation regarding proposed changes to the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA).  We offer these comments in the hope that the forthcoming changes can more robustly promote gender equality in outcomes under AMLA.

Since acceding to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) in 1995, Singapore has placed reservations on key articles (notably, Art 2 and Art 16), citing the need to “protect the rights of minorities in the practice of their personal and religious law”, specifically AMLA.[1]

Some proposed changes described in the MCCY consultation paper[2] (specifically, paragraphs 7 and 17) appear to seek to move away from differential treatment based on gender, though they are very limited in scope and many substantive outcomes under AMLA remain unequal as to gender. More significantly, on 9 March, the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs also announced the appointment of Ustazah Raihanah Halid as a President of the Syariah Court – the first woman to hold such a role.

We urge the government to further recognise that gender equality is compatible with respect for the rights of minorities, and to take further steps to reconcile AMLA with the standards set by CEDAW.

Read our submission in full here.

[1] ‘Singapore’s Fifth Periodic Report to the UN Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women’, October 2015, https://www.msf.gov.sg/policies/Women-Celebrating-Women/International-Obligations/Documents/Singapore%27s%20Fifth%20CEDAW%20Periodic%20Report.pdf.

[2] Consultation paper on draft Administration of Muslim Law Act (Amendment) Bill 2017, https://www.mccy.gov.sg/~/media/MCCY-corp/Topics/Community/Files/AMLA17_Consultation_Paper_14_Mar_2017.ashx