Add legality to one of your following lists or create a new one. Malaysia. 2021. Website. www.loc.gov/item/guide-to-law-online/malaysia/. Before independence in 1957, most of the laws of the United Kingdom were imported and either converted to local law or simply applied as a jurisdiction. Malaysian law is also based on other jurisdictions, namely Australia and India. Criminal law in Malaysia – the Code of Criminal Procedure – was based on the Indian Penal Code. Similarly, the law of treaties is based on the Indian model. Malaysian land law is based on the Australian Torrens system. Complications have arisen with regard to the system of dual justice, for example with regard to religious freedom. Article 11 of the Constitution states that “everyone has the right to profess and practise his religion”. However, in the case of Lina Joy – a Malay convert to Christianity – the Federal Court of Malaysia refused to allow her to change her religion as stated on her identity card (MyKad).
The judges found that they did not have jurisdiction in this matter – that it was a Sharia matter, as stipulated in Article 121 (1A) of the Constitution. The Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It provides the legal framework for laws, legislation, courts and other administrative aspects of law. It also defines the government and monarch and their powers, as well as citizens` rights. Federal laws are enacted by legislators (members of parliament and senators) in the Parliament of Malaysia and apply nationwide. Federal laws are known as (Parliamentary) Acts. The laws of the state are passed by members of the state legislature (Dewan Undangan Negeri) and apply only in that state. State laws are often referred to as ordinances or ordinances. Article 75 of the Constitution provides that a federal law takes precedence over all conflicting state laws, including Sharia laws. Federal laws enacted by the Malaysian Parliament apply throughout the country. There are also state laws enacted by the state legislatures that apply in that particular state.
The Malaysian constitution also provides for a single dual judicial system – secular laws (criminal and civil laws) and Sharia laws. The laws of Malaysia can be divided into two types of laws – statutory law and unwritten law. Written laws are laws enacted in the Constitution or legislature. Unwritten laws are laws that are not contained in any law and can be found in case decisions. This is called common law or jurisprudence. In situations where there is no law governing a particular circumstance, Malaysian jurisdiction may apply. If there is no Malaysian case law, English case law can be applied. There are cases where Australian, Indian and Singaporean cases are used as persuasive authorities.
All translations are summarized in a convenient translation workflow Supports 90+ language pairs, including English to Malay Citations are automatically generated from bibliographic data and may not be complete or accurate. The application of English law or common law is determined by statutes. Section 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that English law applies in cases where no specific law has been enacted. Similarly, in the context of civil law, sections 3 and 5 of the Civil Law Act permit the application of English common law, rules of equity and laws in Malaysian civil cases where no specific law has been enacted. In 2007, the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, questioned the need for English common law, even though Malaysia has been independent for 50 years, and suggested replacing it with Islamic jurisprudence or Sharia law. However, the Malaysian Bar Council responded by stating that the common law was part of the Malaysian legal system and was not a basis for replacing it. The appointment to the Privy Council in England was abolished in 1985. The dual legal system is provided for in Article 121(1A) of the Malaysian Constitution. Article 3 also provides that Islamic law is the law of the State, with the exception of the federal territories of Malaysia.
[1] Islamic law refers to Sharia law, and in Malaysia it is known and written as Syariah. The court is known as the Sharia Court. Looking at the Malaysian legal system as a whole, Sharia law plays a relatively minor role in shaping the laws governing the country. It applies only to Muslims. In terms of civil law, Sharia courts have jurisdiction over personal matters, such as marriage, inheritance and apostasy. Some states have Sharia criminal laws, for example, there is the Kelantan Sharia Penal Code Act of 1993. However, their jurisdiction is limited to imposing fines not exceeding RM 5000 and imprisonment for up to 3 years. In August 2007, the then Chief Justice of Malaysia proposed replacing the current application of common law in Malaysia with Sharia law. [2] After the creation of Malaysia in 1963, the Federal Constitution was amended to include special provisions for the states of Sabah and Sarawak. Some federal acts of Parliament apply differently to these states on a number of issues, particularly immigration, land management, and natural resources. For example, on the peninsula, the National Land Code regulates most land laws.