The court affirmed the inherent right of citizenship by operation of law for a child born abandoned in Malaysia, ensuring no child is rendered stateless based on biological parentage alone.

Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat CJ:

Introduction

[1] This appeal concerns essentially the question of the entitlement of a child, who was abandoned at birth and later adopted, to Malaysian citizenship by operation of law.

[2] The two appellants in this case are CCH and ADY. In addition to being joint litigation representatives, the first appellant is the adoptive father and the 2nd appellant the adoptive mother of their adopted child CYM. For ease of reference we shall refer to both adoptive parents as the 'appellants', and to CYM as the 'Child'. We have redacted their names in order to maintain anonymity.

[3] The respondent is the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths of Malaysia, a department that operates under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Malaysia.

[4] This case began when the appellants filed an application for judicial review against the respondent in the High Court seeking for the following reliefs:

"1. A declaration that [name redacted], a child ("Child") is a citizen of Malaysia by operation of law by virtue of his birth within the Federation of Malaysia pursuant to art 14(1)(b), Part II s 1 paragraph (e) and s 2(3) of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution ;

2. A declaration that the Child is a citizen of Malaysia by operation of law by virtue of his lawful adoption by the Applicants pursuant to the Order for adoption dated 20 July 2017 made by the Pulau Pinang High Court in Adoption No PA-34-3-01/2017, read with ss 9 and 25A of the Adoption Act 1952 and art 14(1)(b) and Part II section (1) paragraph (a) of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution ;

3. An order of certiorari to quash the decision of the Respondent of 21 September 2017 to issue the birth certificate (Register No: 00019676, Serial No.: 001692XA) dated 21 September 2017 ('Birth Certificate') of the Child and signed by theRespondent which registers the Child as a non-citizen (bukan warganegara) instead of a citizen of Malaysia;

4. An order of mandamus directing the Respondent to reissue the birth certificate of the Child to register the Child as a citizen of Malaysia;

5... [prayer for costs]...

6. Such further Orders and/or directions as may be given or made as this Honourable Court deems fit and just in the circumstances.".

[5] For ease of comprehension and unless otherwise stated, all references in this judgment to 'Articles' and 'Second Schedule' are to that of the Federal Constitution ('FC'). Similarly, and unless otherwise stated, any references to Part II or Part III are to that of the Second Schedule of the FC.

Background Facts

Preliminaries

[6] The facts of this appeal are as gleaned and modified from the judgments of the courts below, submissions of parties and the affidavits and other cause papers filed in the judicial review application.

[7] The fulcrum of the judicial review application in this case is the decision of the respondent dated 21 September 2017 to issue a birth certificate ('3rd Birth Certificate') to the Child stating that the Child is not a citizen of Malaysia. The reason why we call it the '3rd Birth Certificate' is adumbrated below.

General Context

[8] From the narrative provided by the appellants in their affidavits filed in the High Court, the salient facts can be summarised thus.

[9] Sometime in January 2004, the appellants were informed by a friend of theirs that a baby boy (the Child) was born and abandoned at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras. The appellants jointly decided that they would adopt the Child and named him CYM.

[10] According to the appellants, they were under the impression that they had formally adopted CYM. As such, when they completed the forms and provided information to the respondent, they represented themselves as the Child's biological parents. The respondent accordingly issued the appellants with the Child's birth certificate on 20 February 2004 ('1st Birth Certificate').

[11] Sometime in April 2016, the Child turned twelve years old and like is usually t