Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Iran has mooted the idea of an international court focussing on Islamic human rights issues, a report said on Tuesday.
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroud, Iran’s chief of judiciary system, said during a visit to Malaysia that his country has formed a secretariat to look into the matter, the New Straits Times reported.
Mahmoud said discussions had also been held with Saudi Arabia.
“I am confident the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will also agree to the idea,” he was quoted as saying after his Iranian delegation met the Malaysian Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.
Malaysia chairs the 57-member OIC.
Unlike the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the proposed Islamic International Court would focus solely on human rights issues involving Islamic nations, Mahmoud said.
He added the court would also hear cases between Islamic countries and the West.
Fairuz said a conference of chief justices from Muslim nations could be held to discuss the proposal for an Islamic court.
Mahmoud and an Iranian delegation were in Malaysia to foster relations between the two judiciaries.