Two women have been appointed as judges of Malaysia’s Islamic Sharia high court for the first time in the history of the judiciary of the Muslim-majority country.
Noor Huda Roslan, 40, and Nenney Shuhaidah Shamsuddin, 41, received their official letters of appointment from Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah during a ceremony at the Istana Bukit Kayangan.
Roslan and Shamsuddin said it was a positive development for the judiciary.
Shamsuddin said Malaysia had ratified the UN’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the appointments were in line with empowering women.
Shariah high court, also known as Syria high court, refers to Sharia law in Islamic religious law and deals with exclusively Islamic laws, having jurisdiction upon every Muslim in Malaysia.
“I believe more women will be appointed to take charge of important responsibilities in the future,” she said.
Both women graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Islamic studies and later studied psychology (Counselling) and international and comparative legal studies respectively.
Shuhaidah was a senior Sharia officer at the attorney-general’s chambers while Huda was a chief registrar at the Selangor Sharia judiciary department.