DUN Kelantan lulus RUU Kesalahan Syariah 2026

Persidangan DUN Kelantan passed the Religious Offences (Kelantan) Act 2026 (RUU Kesalahan Syariah 2026) in a landslide vote today. The amendments include restorative justice, enforceable community service terms, and increased penalties. Deputy Chief Minister Fadzli Hassan highlighted that restorative justice would be enhanced by making community service fully rehabilitative within a year.

The Act also allows the Sultan of Kelantan to designate specific offenses that can be punishable by community service and the forms required for such proceedings. Penalties for serious offenses, such as attempting to leave Islam, neglecting children's religious education, and maintaining vital equipment, will be increased. The Act introduces six new sections, including neglecting or abandoning prayers under Section 10, maintaining genital equipment (Section 15), and maintaining non-genital body parts (Section 16).

It also mandates maintaining mental faculties from harmful acts (Section 33), collective responsibility for Syariah offenses (Section 59), and power to enforce such enforcement (Section 60). Some provisions of the Syariah Penal Code (EKJS) 2019, such as those related to damaging or defiling places of worship, have been updated and incorporated under Section 12 of the new Act.

The penal code sections 11 and 14 have been repealed but replaced with provisions on maintaining genital equipment and maintaining body parts other than genital equipment, respectively.