Illegitimate children cannot claim citizenship through their Malaysian father under the Federal Constitution; citizenship follows the mother, and the burden of proof lies on the applicant to demonstrate non-citizenship of any other country.

Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh J:

Introduction

[1] This is one of those cases that frequent this Court where after the application for citizenship under art 15A of the Federal Constitution has been rejected the applicant takes the route of seeking a declaration that he is a citizen by operation of law under art 14(1)(b) read with s 1(a) of Part II of the Second Schedule of the or under art 14(1)(b) read with s 1 (e) of Part II of the Second Schedule of the . The other reliefs are consequential reliefs, in the event, one of the declarations are granted.

[2] On 16 April 2025, I dismissed the originating summons with no order as to costs. This judgment contains the reasons for my decision.

[3] For the sake of brevity, unless otherwise stated, all references in this judgment to "Articles" and "Second Schedule" are to that of the Federal Constitution . Similarly, and unless otherwise stated, any references to Part II or Part III are to that of the Second Schedule of the .

The Facts

[4] The facts are not in dispute. The plaintiff was 26 years old when he filed this application. He was born on 5 August 1998 at Pusat Pakar Rajindran Singh Teluk Intan, Perak. His biological father, Kanaga Suntharam a/I Suppiah, is a Malaysian citizen, while his mother, Maria Teresa, is a citizen of the Philippines. The plaintiff's parents were not married at the time he was born. His biological father was married to someone else at the time. The plaintiffs biological mother was also not a permanent resident. The plaintiff is, therefore, an illegitimate child born out of wedlock.

[5] In view of the above facts, the plaintiffs birth certificate stated that he is a "non-citizen" and was flowing from that refused a Malaysian identity card.

Citizenship By Operation Of Law

[6] Citizenship by operation of law has been declared by the Federal Court as a fundamental right and all related bodies are bound by to comply with the dictates of art 14(1)(b) read with any of the paragraphs of s 1 of Part II. There is no discretion on any person or the courts to determine whether an applicant is a citizen by operation of law. One either fulfils the conditions or does not fulfil the conditions. Failure to fulfil the conditions would result in the dismissal of an application for citizenship by operation of law. (Pendaftar Besar Kelahiran dan Kematian, Malaysia v. Pang Wee See & Anor 2017 MarsdenLR 1676 ; 2025 MarsdenLR 6620 ; ).

[7] The provisions on citizenship, both substantively and procedurally, including interpretation of the citizenship provisions, are exclusively housed in the Federal Constitution and nowhere else. Being a fundamental right, it has been held that citizenship provisions must be construed as broadly as possible without changing or warping the 'base' meaning, while provisions which limit those rights must be construed as narrowly as possible. These principles are stated in the following two recent Federal Court cases: CTEB & Anor v. Ketua Pengarah Pendaftaran Negara, Malaysia & Ors 2021 MarsdenLR 55 ; ; ("CTEB"); and CCH & Anor v. Pendaftar Besar Bagi Kelahiran & Kematian, Malaysia 2021 MarsdenLR 3577 ; ; [2022] 1 CLJ 1; [2022] 1 AMR 1 ("CCH").

[8] The starting point is to look at the relevant provisions of the Federal Constitution . Article 14(1) state as follows:

Subject to the provisions of this Part, the following persons are citizens by operation of law, that is to say:

(a) every person born before Malaysia Day who is a citizen of the Federation by virtue of the provisions contained in Part I of the Second Schedule; and

(b) every person born on or after Malaysia Day, and having any of the qualifications specified in Part II of the Second Schedule.

[9] According to art 14(1)(b) must fulfil the qualifications set out in s 1 of Part II. Further, the time citizenship is accorded by operation of law is at the time of birth, where both the conditions of jus soli and jus sanguinis are satisfied.

Decision Of The Court

[10] I will now address each g