Raja vs Qadi: Power of Raja in the Islamic Judicial Decisions in Malaysia

Raja constitutes as the Head of Islamic religion for its state as stated in Article 3. The Raja s power is subject to the concept of Constitutional Monarchy and Separation of Powers as mentioned in the Federal Constitution. However, the action of the Raja is said to have resolved the verdict against the syariah court judgment in the case of Pahang Syarie Deputy Prosecutor v Kartika Sari Dewi binti Shukarno [2010] lCU 172 has triggered controversy when the sentence imposed on him has been changed to community service punishments. The effect of this phenomenon has led the process of Separation of Powers considered to have disturbed the Shariah judiciary system of state. The research s methodology is case studies through analyzing documents and in-depth semi-structured interviews on four Sharia Chief Judges, a registrar and research officers ofthe Sharia Chief Judge in five states in Malaysia. All data obtained through the interview were transcribed as verbatim and analyzed through thematic and descriptive approaches. The findings show that the Raja has the power to decide on the Islamic judiciary. However, in fact this does not mean that the King can use such power arbitrarily. This is because Malaysia practices the process of Separation ofPowers and the King is bound by the Federal Constitution.