Today’s decision by the Federal Court in the S Deepa vs N Viran @ Izwan Abdullah case is basically a compromise, Bar Council representative Andrew Khoo says.

Khoo, who was holding a watching brief in the case for the Malaysian Bar, said the apex court came to a realistic decision, following the principles set in the cases of Tan Soon Moi and R Subashini.

"The decision is realistic as a marriage under the civil law may only be dissolved in the civil court and the court can make the ancillary orders. The Syariah Court cannot in this matter.

"The judges have followed the decision in previous cases. But in terms of the custody of the children, they have decided not to disturb the current arrangement, for the reason that the children were in settled environments," he said.

Khoo also said the civil courts should not issue a recovery order if there is a valid Syariah Court order regarding custody.

"The question is whether there was one here. That is the question," he said.

He was commenting on today's decision , where the Federal Court decided that the custody of the eight year-old son is with Izwan, while Deepa would have custody of their 12-year-old daughter.

'Justice requires an act of courage'

Meanwhile, former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said he is happy that the Federal Court made the “right decision”.

“It took a while, but Justice (Md) Raus (Sharif) has put an end to the misery of many.

“Justice always requires an act of courage; and today I applaud those five judges for putting civil court in its rightful place,” tweeted Zaid.

Today’s decision was made based on the respective wishes of the two children.

The apex court ruled that divorce and custody in civil marriages should be decided by the civil court.

The five-member bench said marriage annulment and ancillary orders following the conversion of one party to Islam cannot be made by the syariah court.