The debate in the United Kingdom over the status of religious courts and tribunals has not abated since the well-publicised lecture given by Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury in 2008. This talk will focus on the legitimate use which can be made of Sharia Courts, the Beth Din and the Tribunals of Catholic and Protestant Churches. Complementary jurisdictions allow for the resolution of matrimonial and property disputes through the agency of religious custom and tradition. Can secular courts safely delegate decision making to faith-based processes of arbitration? Particular consideration will be given to Cardiff University’s Research Study Report, Social Cohesion and Civil Law: Marriage, Divorce and Religious Courts (2011) and the recent judgments in the UK Supreme Court in Shergill v Khaira [2014] UKSC 33 Jivraj v Hashwani [2011] UKSC 40, and of Mr Justice Baker in AI v MT [2013] EWHC 100 (Fam).

PROFESSOR MARK HILL QC

Mark Hill QC is practises at the Bar in the UK and in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He is Honorary Professor at the Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff University and Extraordinary Professor at Pretoria University. He sits in the secular courts as a Recorder hearing criminal and civil matters, and in Anglican church courts as Chancellor of the Diocese of Chichester and the Diocese in Europe. His publications include Religion and Discrimination Law in the European Union (2013) and Religious Liberty and Human Rights (2000), and Religion and Law in the United Kingdom (2014). Jointly with Baroness Butler-Sloss, he contributed a chapter on chapter on religious dispute resolution in the family courts to Islam and English Law.

A qualified mediator for some ten years, he is a founder and currently co-chair of BIMA (Belief in Mediation and Arbitration) and was a guest lectures at the International Academy of Alternative Dispute Resolution’s Congress convened in Des Moines, Iowa in 2003. He is consultant editor of the Ecclesiastical Law Journal and his next book, Magna Carta, Religion and the Rule of Law will be published in 2015, to mark the 800th anniversary of the Great Charter.

ANDREW KHOO CHIN HOCK

PARTNER, MESSRS. ANDREW KHOO & DANIEL LO

Andrew Khoo graduated with an LLB (Hons) and AKC in 1988 and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1991 and the High Court of Malaya in 1995. He is in his sixth year as an elected member of the Bar Council and Co-Chair of the Human Rights Committee. Having moved from corporate law to human rights in 2007, he has represented the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), Bar Council, Council of Churches Malaysia and Bible Society of Malaysia in watching briefs before the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and High Court. He was independent consultant to SUHAKAM’s National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous People, and was a member of the government task force addressing implementation of the National Inquiry’s report. He has briefed Members of Parliament on the death penalty, position of refugees in Malaysia, DNA Identification bill, Personal Data Protection bill, International Criminal Court, and amendments to criminal laws. He has spoken in parliamentary forums on the University and University Colleges Act 1971, United Nations Universal Periodic Review on Malaysia in 2009 and 2013, and the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

He is also Chair of the Trade in Legal Services Committee, which deals with the liberalisation of the Malaysian legal services market. He was awarded a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship in 2010, participated in the U.S. International Visitor Leadership Program in 2013, and received SUHAKAM’s 2013 Human Rights Award (Individual) in recognition of his pro bono human rights contribution to society. He holds the position of Chancellor (legal advisor) to both the Anglican Bishop of West Malaysia and Anglican Archbishop of South East Asia, and is an Honorary Lay Canon of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur.

1430 pm Event Registration

1500 pm Welcome Remarks

1510 pm Faith-Based Arbitration : The UK Experience by Professor Mark Hill QC

1630 pm Question & Answer Session moderated by Mr Andrew Khoo Chin Hock

1700 pm End of Programme

Letter of Attendance will be issues 2 weeks after the event date. Letter of attendance will be send via post to the address in participants registration form. 

Bar Council Malaysia    Pending Approval 

 For more information regarding the event, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Chalee Nai Kin, Business Development, Manager at 03 2271 1000 or email to events@klrca.org