In a statement, Sarawak PAS Commissioner Jofri Jaraiee said the party respected the idea mooted by the Dayak community and urged both state and federal governments to allow for the proposal to be realised.
“We need to respect each other’s cultures and customs to ensure there is no misunderstanding among the community.”
The Borneo Post today reported that many Dayak scholars wanted the status of Native Courts to be upgraded in terms of its functions so that it could be on par with the Civil and Shariah Courts.
According to the daily, the scholars agreed that the community still depended on the Native Court on matters related to traditional customs and this warranted the court to play a greater role and be more relevant.
Jofri said that like the Dayaks, Muslims in Malaysia also yearned for the same for Shariah Courts as its powers at present were lower than that of the Sessions Courts.
PAS is currently hoping to elevate the status of the Shariah Court by tabling a Private Member’s Bill that aims to increase penalties for shariah offences.
When it was first brought up, it was perceived that the Bill was to pave the way for hudud to be implemented in Kelantan, which detractors argued was unconstitutional.
However, PAS has since clarified that it merely wanted to increase the punishments for several shariah offences.