DOES LEGAL REPRESENTATION INFLUENCE AMOUNT OF AWARDS IN CHILD MAINTENANCE? A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CASES IN MALAYSIAN SYARIAH COURTS

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Cases of child maintenance application in courts could have at least one party without counsel representation. Self-representation may lead to litigants’ inability to obtain fair outcomes in their cases. The impact of legal representation and self-representation on case outcomes has not been extensively studied. This study sought to examine whether self-represented mothers or mothers represented by lawyers were the ones who have obtained more promising outcomes in terms of the amounts of award.   Methodology: This quantitative study involved 82 first instance and appeal cases decided in Syariah courts from 1969 to 2020. From these case reports, relevant data on litigants and case decisions were extracted, then statistically analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. Case reports were retrieved from Current Law Journal, Lexis Nexis, and Jurnal Hukum databases by conducting case searches using a list of search terms including nafkah anak, nafqah, and child maintenance.   Findings: The finding indicated that representation for mothers did not significantly influence the total amounts of awards. Self-represented mothers were also shown to have won higher amounts in terms of their proportion to fathers’ incomes. The amounts of awards were shown to be significantly influenced by evidence relating to fathers’ incomes and child’s expenses. The amounts were higher when these details were presented, as proven by their inclusion in case reports. Self-represented mothers fared better than mothers with lawyers when these determinants were presented.   Contributions: Parties and counsels will be better informed of past trend involving full, semi, and non-representation in cases involving child maintenance orders.   Keywords: Child maintenance, Act 303, legal representation, self-representation, child support.   Cite as: Kadir, R., Mokhlis, S., & Abd Karim, J. (2023). Does legal representation influence amount of awards in child maintenance? A quantitative analysis of selected cases in Malaysian Syariah courts. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(1), 270-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss1pp270-289