KUALA LUMPUR — The High Court in George Town has ruled that Malaysian courts have the authority to allow couples with at least one Malaysian spouse to register their divorce in the country, even if their marriage and its dissolution took place overseas, according to Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
Justice Azizan Arshad said Section 31 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act (LRA) 1976 gives such couples the same rights as those whose marriages were solemnised locally.
He made the ruling while presiding over the divorce registration application of a woman who had married in Indonesia.
FMT reported that Azizan said in his judgment that the 47-year-old Indonesian woman and her Malaysian husband are currently in Malaysia, making the LRA applicable.
“The LRA explicitly empowers the court to consider such applications,” he was quoted as saying by FMT.
In allowing the woman’s application, Azizan said he was satisfied that the marriage had met all the conditions outlined in the legislation and was valid.
The couple were married and had their union registered in Pekalongan, Indonesia, on June 30, 2012. They later came to Malaysia and registered their marriage under the LRA on Aug 15, 2012.
However, their relationship broke down irretrievably, with divorce proceedings conducted in Pekalongan.
Following the dissolution, the woman and her five children, aged between eight and 19, returned to Malaysia.
She then applied to register the divorce locally on April 11 this year.
