Conflicts and disagreements are part and parcel of married life. As revealed in the Qur’an the best way to resolve conflict in family is by the efforts of the spouses themselves. In the event of failure to restore harmony between the spouses, Islam laid out other remedies from outside the conjugal home where competent third parties are available to assist in resolving the conflict. In Malaysia, provisions relating to third party intervention can be found, for instance, under sections 47 and 48 of Part V on the Dissolution of Marriage of the Islamic Family Law (Selangor) Enactment 2003. The sections respectively provide clauses for conciliatory committee and arbitration. The courts, under s. 48 will appoint two hakam (arbitrators) to act for the husband and the wife. In agreement with the Islamic law of Tahkim, it is recommended that where possible, for a hakam to be from among the family of the spouses. This paper seeks to examine first, the role of Hakam in a Tahkim process and, second, the ethics of Hakam. To achieve this, apart from field research, the Hakam Rules 2014 of Selangor was referred to to examine detailed aspects on the qualifications, role and ethics of Hakam. A minor fieldwork was conducted at Shah Alam Syariah Subordinate Court. 20 case files involving settlement reached through tahkim sessions were examined. Separate interviews with Syariah Court Judge as well as ‘court-annexed’ hakam were also carried out. The findings suggest that besides emphasizing on the principal requirements, it is equally important to pay greater attention to promoting additional qualification and nurturing relevant skills in the light of the hakam duties as third party in resolving family disputes. Furthermore, maintaining the characteristic as hakam by following the code of ethics is another key to the successfulness of majlis tahkim.
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