Islam, the monarchy and criminal law in Brunei: the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013

Abstract

ABSTRACTEfforts to expand the application of Islamic criminal law in Muslim majority states to implement hudud laws present governments with difficult choices between modern human rights norms and conservative local understandings of Islamic tradition. The governments of Muslim majority countries in Southeast Asia used to be very reluctant to embrace hudud but that has begun to change in recent decades. In Brunei, the introduction of a sweeping and conservative Syariah Penal Code Order that includes hudud punishments, such as amputation and stoning to death, has been driven by this tiny oil-rich state’s absolute monarchy. It sees the Code as further entrenching the state ideology of ‘Malay Muslim Monarchy’ and thus its own legitimacy. The Sultan has trenchantly rejected external rights-based criticisms and threatened domestic critics with prosecution, although implementation of the more severe provisions and punishments of the Code have been delayed. This paper discusses the legal and political implications of Brunei’s Syariah Penal Code Order. Situating the Code in the historical and political context of Islamic law in Brunei, the Code itself is described, locating it within contemporary politics. After considering the controversies the Code has provoked, the article speculates on whether it will ever be fully implemented.