On 5 August 2022, the Court of Appeal will be delivering its decision on the Government’s appeal against the High Court decision in Suriani Kempe & Ors v Government of Malaysia & Ors. On this momentous day, the Court of Appeal will decide on whether the High Court was right in its landmark decision on 9 September 2021 that Malaysian women are entitled to confer citizenship on their overseas-born children by ‘operation of law’ on the same basis as Malaysian men.

• Date: 5 August 2022 (Friday)
• Time: 9AM
• Venue: Court of Appeal 1 (Civil 2), Palace of Justice, Presint 3, 62506 Putrajaya

This decision will mark a milestone in the development of our nation towards gender equality and protection of women and children. We hope that you can join us as the Court of Appeal brings down the gavel.

BACKGROUND

• The 9 September 2021 landmark High Court decision was a step in the right direction towards gender equality in Malaysia; it brought relief to all impacted Malaysian women and children that their struggles would finally be put to rest. 
• However, the Government has been insistent on resisting Malaysian women’s fight for equal citizenship rights. 72 hours later, the Government filed an appeal against the decision. During this process, the Government even introduced arguments to invalidate an amendment made 21 years ago to Article 8(2) in 2001 to prohibit gender discrimination. 
• The Government also applied for stay at the High Court and Court of Appeal, which were both dismissed. Despite the High Court order stating that it is applicable to all Malaysian women in similar situations as the plaintiffs, as of today only the 6 plaintiffs have received their children’s citizenship certificates, other Malaysian women have yet to receive theirs.
• Although there was an outpour of public support and action towards the #SayaJugaAnakMalaysia, #ManaDokumenKami and #TarikBalikRayuan campaigns, the Government refuses to recognise and uphold Malaysian women’s equal citizenship rights. In the meantime, Malaysian women and their children are placed in situations of uncertainty and harm.