From 2003 until now, 52 registered syar'ie lawyers have been accepted as syarie lawyers at the Syariah Court. For 2011, only 17 Syarie Lawyers applied for practice at the Syariah Court. The number is very small if compared to the number of cases heard in Syariah Courts that year.
According to Statistics on Cases registered at the Syariah Courts and at the Office for Registration of Muslim Marriage, Divorce, Cancellation and Reconciliation for Muslims throughout Brunei Darussalam in 2011, 1,079 Civil Cases and 272 Criminal Cases were brought to the Syariah Lower Court, with an overall total of 1,341.
At the Syariah High Court, there were 46 Civil Cases, 84 Criminal Cases, 4 Civil Appeal Cases, 1 criminal appeal case, 8 Civil Review Cases, and 2 Criminal Review Cases, totalling 145 cases in all. Meanwhile, there were 144 applications for child adoption and 259 applications for Islamic Inheritance Distribution cases.
The Syariah Appeals Court recorded 3 Civil Cases but no criminal case. Similarly, the total number of Civil Appeals cases, Criminal Appeals, Civil Reviews, Criminal Reviews and other cases referred to the Syariah High Court was relatively low.
The Office for Registration of Muslim Marriage, Divorce, Cancellation and Reconciliation recorded 2,475 marriage registrations, 459 divorce registrations, 18 reconciliation cases, and 5 cancellation cases.
The total number of appointments or use of syarie lawyers' service for cases heard in the Syariah High Court and the Syariah Lower Court was also low. Only 9 % of such service was recorded in Syariah High Court
and 3 % in the Syariah Lower Court. In view of the current needs, the Syariah Court hopes that the total number of practising Syarie Lawyers will increase from year to year.
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