E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.1 Page 56 243. In addition, the provisions of article 1 of the aforementioned Act are redundant, since they confirm the actual state of affairs, whereby Kuwaiti women comply with the precepts of the Isla mic sharia, which do not negate freedom of religion or deny rights, but are simply there to ensure that women are respected and that they respect themselves. This clause is there to help women and not to harm them. 244. With regard to the Special Rapporteur’s requests for clarification, the competent authority’s reply had been summarized in the following points: (a) The amendment to the Act was intended to grant women the right to stand for election and the right to vote; (b) Generally speaking, elections to the National Assembly are monitored by the sub committees and the main committees of the electoral commission, under the chairmanship of a judge or public prosecutor, and by the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court. Each body carries out this task in accordance with its respective functions and pursuant to the Parliamentary Elections Act No. 35 of 1962, as amended, and Act No. 14 of 1973, concerning the establishment of the Constitutional Court; (c) The clause in article 1 of the Act No. 17 of 2005, providing that women who stand for election and who vote must comply with the precepts of the Islamic sharia, has no influence whatever on women’s right to stand for election and to vote; (d) With regard to safeguarding the religious rights of minorities, suffice it to say that article 29 of the Constitution of Kuwait provides: “All people are equal in human dignity and with respect to their public rights and duties before the law. There shall be no distinction among them on grounds of sex, origin, la nguage or religion.” Article 35 stipulates: “Freedom of belief is absolute. The State shall protect freedom of worship in accordance with prevailing customs and without prejudice to public order or morals.” Observations 245. The Special Rapporteur is grate ful for the details provided in the Government’s response. Malaysia Communication sent on 12 October 2005 246. The Special Rapporteur had received information concerning a decision by Malaysia’s Court of Appeal according to which conversions from Islam to another religion have to be authorised by sharia courts in the case of Lina Joy, formerly Azlina Jailani, aged 41. 247. Lina Joy, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity in the late 1980s, had approached the National Registration Department (NRD) in Febr uary 1997 in order to request that her name and religious status be changed on her identity card. The application was rejected in August 1997 on the grounds that the sharia court had not granted permission for her to renounce Islam. When she appealed the decision, in 1998, the NRD allowed the name change, but refused to change the religious status on