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Brunei lawmakers passed amendments to the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 in August 2018. The amendments define the term ‘practice or ceremony related to the religion of Islam’ and give examples, broaden the definition of ‘contempt of Islam’ to include disputing and questioning, and broaden ‘incitement to neglect religious duty’ to include any Islam-related practice or ceremony that is common in Brunei.

Brunei lawmakers passed amendments to the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 in August 2018. The amendments define the term ‘practice or ceremony related to the religion of Islam’ and give examples, broaden the definition of ‘contempt of Islam’ to include disputing and questioning, and broaden ‘incitement to neglect religious duty’ to include any Islam-related practice or ceremony that is common in Brunei.

Brunei lawmakers gazetted corrigendum to two typos in the Maylay text of the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 in November of the same year.

Brunei’s Second Minister of Foreign Affairs addressed this letter to the Special Procedures Branch of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on April 8, 2019, responding to an April 1, 2019 letter asking that the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 be repealed. The letter starts by affirming Brunei’s commitment to international human rights law. It then argues that the Code is acceptable given the local context: Brunei is a small country, Islam has been the official religion for centuries, and religious values underly the Brunein identity, and Brunei has the sovereignty to enforce laws reflecting its cultural and religious values. It also states that the Syariah criminal law system is focused more on prevention than punishment, that the Code does not criminalize any sexual orientations or same-sex relations, and that the most severe punishments require a standard that is so high that it would be extremely difficult to satisfy.

Note: Authors' name is written differently on the cover letter and on the country's official site. In the long form field, his name is written as on the official site.

Brunei lawmakers gazetted the notification of commencement of certain sections of the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 in April 2014, announcing that the sections of the Code would commence on May 1, 2014.  This first stage of implementation included only sections regulating minor crimes and misdemeanors.

Brunei lawmakers gazetted the notification of commencement of the Syariah Courts Criminal Procedure Code Order of 2018 in December 2018, announcing that the Code would commence on January 1, 2019. 

Lawmakers in Brunei passed the Syariah Courts Criminal Procedure Code Order in 2018, and it took effect on January 1, 2019. The Code details procedures to be followed in implementing the country’s Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013, parts of which took effect in 2014 and the remainder of which took effect in 2019. The SCCPCO outlines the structure and jurisdiction of the Islamic (Syariah) courts as well as procedures for arrest, summons, warrants, trials, sentencing, implementation of punishment, and appeals.

Lawmakers in Brunei passed the Syariah Courts Criminal Procedure Code Order in 2018, and it took effect on January 1, 2019. The Code details procedures to be followed in implementing the country’s Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013, parts of which took effect in 2014 and the remainder of which took effect in 2019. The SCCPCO outlines the structure and jurisdiction of the Islamic (Syariah) courts as well as procedures for arrest, summons, warrants, trials, sentencing, implementation of punishment, and appeals.

Brunei lawmakers gazetted the notification of commencement of certain sections of the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 in December 2018, announcing that the sections of the Code would commence on April 3, 2019. This second stage of implementation included serious crimes and felonies that entail classical Islamic criminal law’s fixed crimes and punishments.

Lawmakers in Brunei passed the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 in October of that year, and implemented the law in two stages: sections regulating minor crimes and misdemeanors took effect on May 1, 2014, and the remainder—including serious crimes and felonies that entail classical Islamic criminal law’s fixed crimes and punishments—took effect on April 3, 2019. This Islamic criminal code exists in parallel to Brunei’s “civil” (or secular) criminal laws, which borrow from British law. Among other provisions, Brunei’s new code criminalizes failures to perform various religious obligations, sexual relations out of wedlock, and gay or lesbian sexual relations. It includes punishments of whipping, amputation of hands and feet, and stoning. Notably, the most severe punishments accompany very high evidentiary standards as laid out within the Code, and in the related Syariah Courts Criminal Procedure Code Order, the SCCPCO of 2018.

Lawmakers in Brunei passed the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 in October of that year, and implemented the law in two stages: sections regulating minor crimes and misdemeanors took effect on May 1, 2014, and the remainder—including serious crimes and felonies that entail classical Islamic criminal law’s fixed crimes and punishments—took effect on April 3, 2019. This Islamic criminal code exists in parallel to Brunei’s “civil” (or secular) criminal laws, which borrow from British law. Among other provisions, Brunei’s new code criminalizes failures to perform various religious obligations, sexual relations out of wedlock, and gay or lesbian sexual relations. It includes punishments of whipping, amputation of hands and feet, and stoning. Notably, the most severe punishments accompany very high evidentiary standards as laid out within the Code, and in the related Syariah Courts Criminal Procedure Code Order, the SCCPCO of 2018.

A group of UN officials, principally Special Rapporteurs, wrote this letter to Brunei lawmakers on April 1, 2019 expressing concerns about the Syariah Penal Code Order of 2013 and asking that it be repealed. The letter starts by listing prior communications between the UN and Brunei regarding the Code, summarizing the aspects of the Code it considers objectionable, and discussing the international human rights standards that it holds that the Code violates. It then urges that Brunei’s government revoke and repeal the Code, contending that it would not be in conformity with international human rights law. It concludes with inquiries for further information.