Court rejects stateless man’s bid for citizenship through Malaysian father

A man’s bid to secure Malaysian citizenship for his stateless son, despite DNA evidence confirming their biological relationship, has been rejected by the High Court in Kota Bharu.

Judicial Commissioner Tengku Amir Zaki Tengku Abdul Rahman ruled that the child, born in Thailand to a Malaysian father and Thai mother, did not qualify for citizenship by operation of law as his parents could not prove they were legally married at the time of his birth.

The son, who has lived in Malaysia since he was about three months old, was born in Golok, Thailand, in June 2006. He has no birth certificate and has never held citizenship of any country.

His father argued that a DNA report issued by the chemistry department in January this year had conclusively established their biological relationship.

He also contended that the absence of marriage and birth registration documents should not override scientific evidence of paternity.

However, Tengku Amir said the child’s entitlement to citizenship had to be determined based on his status at birth.

The court found that no documentary evidence had been produced to establish that the biological parents were legally married when the child was born.

“Citizenship by operation of law requires the fulfilment of the requisite conditions at the time of birth,” Tengku Amir said, referring to several Federal Court precedents.

He held that Section 17 of Part III of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution applied to the child, who was treated as having been born out of wedlock.

Under that provision, references to the father of an illegitimate child are construed as references to the mother for citizenship purposes.

Tengku Amir said the child’s citizenship status must therefore be determined by reference to his Thai mother’s nationality, rather than his Malaysian biological father.

The court dismissed the application and ordered the father and son to pay the government RM4,000 in costs.