Following the 134^th meeting of the Federal Territory Syarak Law Consultative Committee on 26 and 27 October 2021, the Mufti for the Federal Territories issued a fatwa on 26 October 2022 that was gazetted on 14 November 2022 under P.U.(B) 553/2022, ruling that in cases of “darurat” (i.e. necessity) or in specific situations, hearing via remote communication technology for Syariah courts is encouraged and is not against Syariah laws, provided that: 

• Judge;
• Decision of the court;
• Matters in dispute;
• The prosecuting party; and
• The defendant. 

Comments
 
Earlier this year, the Selangor State Legislative Assembly passed two bills related to the administration of the Syariah courts to conduct case proceedings using remote communication technology. These are the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) (Amendment) Enactment 2022 (Enactment A70) and the Syariah Court Civil Procedure (State of Selangor) (Amendment) Enactment 2022 (Enactment A71). However, no date has been appointed by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor for the coming into force of either of the Enactments.
 
As for civil courts, remote communication technology was introduced under the Courts of Judicature (Amendment) Act 2020 (Act A1621), the Subordinate Courts (Amendment) Act 2020 (Act A1622) and the Subordinate Courts Rules (Amendment) Act 2020 (Act A1623) that came into force on 22 October 2020.
 
The growing trend of empowering courts to use remote communication technology was largely due to concerns over physical attendances of court proceedings at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, as practitioners, parties and courts have grown accustomed to the accessibility and efficiency of hearings via remote communication technology, it is highly likely that it will be a favoured mode for hearings irrespective of the situation relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Alert by Raja Nadhil Aqran bin Raja Ahmad Aminollah (Senior Associate) of the Dispute Resolution Practice of Skrine.