PUTRAJAYA (Feb 15): The Court of Appeal had on Tuesday (Feb 15) upheld the High Court’s 2019 decision to grant Malaysia citizenship to a 15-year-old girl born to a Malaysian father and Filipino mother because the High Court had interpreted the law correctly in its verdict.
In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, the three-member Court of Appeal bench, comprising judges Datuk Gunalan Muniandy, Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, said the court did not agree with submissions by the Malaysian government, Home Affairs Ministry and National Registration Department to not grant Malaysian citizenship to the girl.
Gunalan said: “In our judgment, this court finds the High Court judge had interpreted the law correctly. Therefore, we find there is no clear error of law in the High Court in arriving at the decision.”
The girl, who was born in Perak in November 2006, was indicated as a non-citizen in her birth certificate because her parents registered their marriage in January 2008.
Her father had applied three times for her Malaysian citizenship in February 2008, October 2011 and December 2012 but all the applications were rejected by the Malaysian government.
A DNA test was done to prove that her Malaysian father and Filipino mother are her biological parents.
The High Court, which had in 2019 declared the girl a Malaysian citizen based on the Federal Constitution, had also directed the Malaysian government to issue her a citizenship certificate and an identity card.
At the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, the girl was represented by lawyers Annou Xavier and Larissa Ann Louis while senior federal counsel Liew Horng Bin represented the Malaysian government, Home Affairs Ministry and National Registration Department.