High Court rejects citizenship bid for adopted girl with unknown biological parents
SHAH ALAM: The High Court here has dismissed a couple's bid to have their adopted daughter, whose biological parents are unknown, declared a Malaysian citizen by operation of law.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has rejected a couple's attempt to declare their adopted daughter a Malaysian citizen due to unknown biological parents. The girl, born in Selangor on November 23, 2011, was adopted by the couple in June 2020. Despite being raised as their own, her birth certificate still classified her as a non-citizen.
The court ruled that the couple did not meet the constitutional requirements to grant citizenship to the girl. In their judgment, Judge Asmah Musa stated that the couple could not apply Section 19B of the Federal Constitution, which presumes a newborn found exposed is the child of a permanently resident mother, as the girl was not abandoned but directly handed to the couple by an elderly woman.
The court also dismissed the argument that the girl qualified for citizenship under Section 1(e), Part II of the Second Schedule, as the couple had not proven she did not acquire citizenship of another country through biological lineage. The National Registration Department's decision to classify her as a non-citizen was deemed lawful, as the couple had first failed to establish her citizenship by operation of law.
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