SUHAKAM’s REPORT TO THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN General, Deputy Secretary General and Director General, 2011-2012, went down from 45 (out of 213 positions) in 2011 to 42 (out of 233 positions) as of March 2012.23 According to the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group Malaysian Corporate Governance Index 2011, there were only 8.4% of women on the boards of Malaysia’s Public Listed Companies (PLCs). The above figures show that the number of women in leadership and management positions remains depressingly low. b) In response, the Government launched the New Corporate Governance Blueprint 2011, under which the corporate sector is to ensure that women make up at least 30% of those in decisionmaking positions by 2016. A similar ruling was issued to the public sector in 2004. The companies are recommended to make a policy to increase the number of women candidates as board members. It was also recommended that the companies explicitly disclose in their annual report their gender diversity policies and targets and the measures to achieve the 30% women participation by 2016. (v) Women In Civil and Syariah Judiciary a) The number of women in the civil Judiciary was 34.4% as of 10 August 2011 and 35.4% as of 18 March 2012.24 On the other hand, in 2011 there were 24.1% women in the syariah Judiciary, and increased to 25.4% in 2012. 25 3.8.5 Unfair Dismissal (i) The Commission is pleased with the decision in Noorfadilla bt Ahmad Saikin v. Chayed bin Basirun & Ors (Originating Summons No. 21-248-2010) at the Shah Alam High Court where Justice Dato’ Zaleha Yusof ruled that the act of revoking an offer of employment as a temporary teacher to a woman due to her pregnancy was unconstitutional and breached Malaysia’s commitment and obligation as a state party to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Subsequently, an 23 Ibid p.69 Ibid 71. 25 Ibid p. 72, consisting of Chief Registrar of the State Syariah Court, Syarie Judges, Sulh Officers and Syariah Officers. 24 11