Shariah courts in Malaysia, or anywhere else, do not exist to serve the 'public', nor to safeguard anyone's 'rights'.  This is especially true for those seen as less than worthy by Islamic scripture (women, apostates, non Muslims, gays, etc etc etc).  Rather, Shariah courts exist solely to protect and advance the cause of Islam.

So woe betides anyone who has an actual grievance and tries, in good faith, to navigate the twisted, unjust world known as Shariah. Rest assured, such a person will find that the deck is stacked against him/her, as a Malaysian female apostate recently discovered, no doubt to her chagrin. But anyone familiar with Shariah, or with how Shariah courts operate, should hardly be surprised.

But first some background. In 2005, the compound of an eccentric but otherwise mostly harmless cult called 'Sky Kingdom' [1] was savagely attacked by a Muslim mob. Shortly thereafter the cult compound was bulldozed on orders of Malaysia's 'moderate' Muslim government. In the years since then, many of the cultists, having had the misfortune to be 'born' Muslim, were arrested and tried by the Shariah courts for 'apostasy'.

One of the cultists thus arrested was a Malay woman named Kamariah Ali. In an attempt to be recognized as a non Muslim and avoid likely imprisonment for apostasy, Ms. Kamariah tried to obtain permission from the Shariah courts to leave Islam. From "Malaysian 'teapot cult' woman loses Islam legal bid", by [2] BBC News, 19 July 2011:

Malaysia's civil court has refused a woman permission to leave Islam to avoid being jailed for apostasy.

Kamariah Ali, 60, says she should not be tried under Islamic law because she is no longer a Muslim.

She follows the Sky Kingdom sect, known as the teapot cult because it built a giant teapot to symbolise its belief in the healing purity of water.

But judges ruled that only Malaysia's Islamic courts could decide on the case because Ms Kamariah was born a Muslim.

Malaysia's Islamic courts have authority over only Muslims - the rest of the population are not bound by their rules.

Actually, Malaysia's Islamic courts have undisputed authority over anyone they say is a Muslim, dead or alive. [3] In repeated instances, Sharia courts have seized bodies from their (non Muslim) families, and justified the body snatching after the fact by saying the deceased were Muslims.

The BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur says Ms Kamariah's case is one of a growing number of legal challenges brought by those caught between the Islamic authorities and the civil courts.

Ms Kamariah had asked the civil courts to declare her freedom to worship, as guaranteed by the [Malaysian] constitution.

As it turns out, any 'guarantees of freedom' made by Muslims or Muslim nations mean very little indeed.