What specific constitutional clause bars illegitimate children from claiming citizenship via their father?

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Section 17 of the Federal Constitution’s Second Schedule bars illegitimate children from claiming citizenship via their father
Section 17 of the Federal Constitution’s Second Schedule, Part III provides that for an illegitimate child, citizenship claims can only be traced through the mother, not the father. In practice, this means an illegitimate child cannot rely on a Malaysian father’s citizenship to become Malaysian by operation of law.
The clause applies when the parents were not married at birth
The court treated the child’s birth as “illegitimate” because the Malaysian father and the non-Malaysian mother were not married when the child was born. Under Section 17, that illegitimacy status determines which parent’s citizenship can be used for the constitutional route to citizenship.
The rule limits claims to the mother’s citizenship status
The constitutional text restricts the parent an illegitimate child may “refer to” to the child’s mother. As a result, the child must take on the citizenship outcome connected to the mother, rather than the father’s Malaysian citizenship.
It blocks reliance on the father’s Malaysian citizenship even if the father is Malaysian
In the case described, the child was born in Malaysia to a Malaysian father and was previously issued a Malaysian passport as a toddler, but the Court of Appeal still held that the father’s citizenship could not be used. The court said the citizenship question is determined by whether the Federal Constitution’s requirements are satisfied, and Section 17 prevents illegitimate children from using the father as the constitutional basis.
It also affects whether other citizenship exceptions can be used
The court said Section 17’s limitation meant the child could not use another constitutional pathway tied to being a “new born child found exposed” or abandoned. Because the court did not treat the child as falling under that category, Section 19B of the Federal Constitution’s Second Schedule, Part III was not available in that situation.

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What specific constitutional clause bars illegitimate children from claiming citizenship via their father?

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