Section 51(1) of law reform (marriage and divorce) act 1976: a legal study governing dissolution of marriage in Malaysia on the ground of conversion to Islam / Aina Khalida Ahmad Nuri …[et al.]

Malaysia is unique to its core. That is not only an expression Malaysians toss around just to be proud of. This uniqueness we are so proud of is embedded to the core of our constitution, in which unlike any other nation, Malaysia practices a dual justice system, making Malaysia neither a secular nor an Islamic state. To this fact, there exist separate laws, namely Syariah laws and civil laws governing different sector of the nations, coexisting harmoniously since its birth. However this deemed harmonious coexistence does have loopholes here and there that we aim to study. One such separation deemed to exist is in the matter of marriage and divorce. To this regard there exist different regulations governing both civil and Islamic matters. This separation of laws on the same matter is what the research paper is about. For the cause of this research paper, section 51 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 has been critically looked into and studied. The section highlights that, in the case of dissolution of marriage by reason of conversion into Islam of one spouse, the unconverted spouse shall have the right to petition for a divorce after the expiration of three months. The study of this matter is with the hopes that the section can be generally improved and by extension to shine a light for people about other modes of marital dispute resolution other than that encapsulate in section 51 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976.