The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has established a syariah and law harmonising division which among others, seeks to resolve the conflict between civil and syariah courts.

"Setting up this division is important because it will be a focal point for syariah issues that are referred to the AGC.

"This includes legal advice, the forming and streamlining of syariah laws, the ratification of international conventions that affects syariah, and the harmonising of civil and syariah laws to overcome conflict of the legal jurisdiction between the two courts," the AGC said in a statement today.

The setting up of this new division comes four days after the Federal Court in a landmark judgment, quashed unilateral conversions of minors to Islam, by ruling in favor of M Indira Gandhi's bid to void the conversion of her three children.

The ruling means that if there are questions regarding the conversion of a person to Islam, the dispute can even be heard by a civil court as opposed to the syariah courts.

It also raised questions about the position of syariah courts in the country, with some groups calling for the Islamic courts to be put on par with civil courts.