MMDA: Colombo Telegraph Leaks Complete Saleem Marsoof Committee Report, ‘Leaked Report’ Redacted, Incomplete And Distorted

A leaked version of the report compiled by a committee led by Justice Saleem Marsoof to amend the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) published in the website Groundviews is incomplete and distorted. Colombo Telegraph obtained the original and complete report and publishes it below.

JULY 2, 2018

Six long months have gone by after the finalization of the MMDA Committee Report and its hand over by the Chairman of the Committee Justice Saleem Marsoof, PC to the Minister of Justice Thalatha Atukorale on 22nd January 2018, but still the Report has not been officially published, and several applications for access to the Report filed by women’s activists are still pending before the Right to Information Commission. The only silver lining in the dark horizon has been the publication of a “leaked”, redacted, incomplete and to some extent distorted yet useful version of the Report for the reform of the MMDA in the Groundviews of 5th April 2018.  

The Marsoof Committee had been appointed by the former Minister of Justice and Law Reform Hon. Milinda Moragoda in July 2009 to consider and propose amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, No. 13 of 1951 (MMDA) and the upgrading of Quazi Courts, as Minister Moragoda was of the opinion, as stated in the letters of appointment issued to the members of the Committee, that a “review of the Muslim personal law and the system of the Quazi Courts was urgently necessary”. The general public, in particular affected Muslim litigants of either sex, have anxiously awaited the publication of the Report of the Committee and its implementation, but since of late, they have expressed their frustrations in many ways. 

It is not surprising that on the very day the MMDA Report was handed over to the Minister, the Muslim Personal Law Reform Action Group (MPLRAG) speaking on behalf of all affected Muslim women, expressed their anguish and anxiety against the delay in handing over of the Report which had been finalized on 21st December 2017. The MPLRAG also staged a protest in front of the Ministry of Justice at 9 am on 22nd January 2018 to demand the handing over of the report without further delay. Apparently, the women’s activists were not aware that the Report was to be handed over to the Minister that very day, but intelligence reports about the proposed demonstration prompted the Ministry of Justice to change the time of handing over of the Report from 9 am to 11 am in order to avoid embarrassment to the much-respected Chairman of the MMDA Committee. 

The aspirations of long suffering women for the improvement of the Quazi Court system were expressed in the said article published in the Sri Lanka Brief on 22nd January 2018 by the MPLRAG in the following words:-

“We understand that the submission of the report by the Committee is just the start of the process for reforms, as each individual recommendation for amendments to the MMDA will need to be considered in the light of constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination, as well as other human rights standards and Sri Lanka’s international treaty obligations. But the submission of the report we believe, will be a significant step towards the expediting progress on equality and justice for Muslim women. Therefore today’s silent stand is to say NO MORE TO DELAYS and to ask the Minister of Justice, Hon. Thalatha Athukorale to (1) provide the Muslim community with an urgent update of the status of the report and its exact date of submission; (2) ensure that the report once submitted is shared with the public; (3) invite open consultation and dialogue about the contents and recommendations of the report, especially engage with women who are directly affected by the MMDA; (4) brief the Muslim community on the process and timeline as to when the MMDA amendment bill will be prepared and tabled in Parliament; and (5) ensure that any and all amendments considered to the MMDA are in keeping with equality and non-discrimination between Muslim men and women and formulated with full engagement and participation of women’s groups.”

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