The Legal System in Malaysia: Its evolution

The current Malaysian law has evolved in 3 major eras of time. Laws were already introduced during the era of the Melaka Sultanate at the beginning of the 15th century. At that time, Melaka was already a busy trading spot, and the maintainance of law and order was crucial in the country. The second era which shaped the Malaysian legal system is the spread if Islam in Malaysia. And lastly is due to the colonial rule by the British in the 1790's, this brought out the

constitutional government and the common law system which we see today.

After the independence in 1957, most of the laws of England were imported and either made into local constitution or simply applied as case laws. Malaysian law is also based on other laws of other countries such as Australia and India. The criminal law of Malaysia, the Criminal Procedure Code is based on the Indian criminal code. Similarly, the Contracts Act is based on the Indian model as well. Malaysian land law is based on the Australian Torrens system.

The Constitution of Malaysia, is the supreme law of the land and sets the legal framework and rights of Malaysian citizens. Federal laws enacted by the Parliament of Malaysia which applies throughout the country. There are also state laws enacted by the State Legislative Assemblies which applies in the particular state. The constitution of Malaysia also provides a unique dual justice system—the secular laws (criminal and civil) and Syariah laws. The Consitution also defines their government and monarch and their powers

Malaysia has a dual justice system, The dual system of law is provided in Article 121(1A) of the Constitution of Malaysia. The federal constitution imposes Islamic Law to Muslilms in the country. Islamic laws are known shariah (syariah) laws and its court known as the syaria court. Islamic laws is only limited to Muslims, although it plays a small role in defining the laws of the country, Islamic laws plays in important role in personal matters such as marriage, inheritance and apostasy. Islamic laws are also state laws which are carried out dualy. An example of the dual system is, in Malaysia night clubs, bars and pubs could be raided under the syariah court and Muslims caught drinking and wearing clothes that exploit would be sent to the syariah court of justice. On the other hand non-muslims are allowed to drink and the syariah law does not apply to them.

Fedral laws are made by the parliment of Malaysia. State laws are created by the state legislative assembly and apply to particular states. Laws in Malaysia can be broken down into two types of laws, written and non-written. Written laws are those which has been layed out by the constitution and the parliment. Unwritten laws are laws which are not contained in any statutes and can be found in case decisions. This is known as the common law or case law. In situations where there is no law governing a particular circumstance, Malaysian case law may apply. If there is no Malaysian case law, English case law can be applied. Apart from English laws Australian, Indian, and Singaporean cases are used as persuasive authorities.

(blog yet to be updated)

Introduction to Law: The presence of Law in this World.

A law, basically is referred to any set of uniform principles such as, laws of science, laws of economics, laws of nature, laws of attraction and many more. All these laws explain a basic uniform principle to support certain theories. And thus, laws associated with the society, refers to law as a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as an important social mediator of relations between people.

The purpose of law in the society is too regualte and control behavoiur, so that people follow ethical codes and standards. Each and every country have laws of their own, laws may differ from country to country, city to city, and even neighborhood to neighborhood.

Laws are created to govern people, so that people do not conduct anything inappropriate within their society. A law consists of rules, sovereignty and enforcing power, it also includes punishment if necessary. For example, many countries may impose laws such as driving with your seat belt in place. And the punishment by law can be a fined for a few dollars or even be jailed, some countries are very strict on this matter. Law can be categorized into two, Public Laws and Private Laws. Public law is a theory of law governing the relationship between individuals (citizens, companies ) and the state. Public law deals with law involving the state, which includes regulatory statutes, penal law and other law of public order. Constitutional laws, administrative laws and criminal laws are sub-divisions of public law. Acts such as theft, murder, fraud and driving under the influence of alchohol are examples of public law. The police are constantly engaging on enforcing public law.

Private law also known as Civil law, is that part of a legal system that involves relationships between individuals/parties. This includes the law of contracts, torts, the law of obligations, property law and such. In general, private law is the area of law in a society that affects the relationships between individuals or groups without the intervention of the state or government. Usually private laws are handled by lawyers and may take time to proceed.

Basically the law is there to defend and protect the people from bad things that may happen. It is there to provide equality in times of dispute. It should be designed in a way so that the citizens of a nation are safe.

After understanding what law is, and the two categorize of law, it is important to study into who creates the law, who imposes it and how it works. Through out my blog, I shall discuss on Malaysia, as the country of reference/study and will try to differentiate with laws present in other countries, such as Indonesia and other countries of the European region. Since certain laws of Malaysia may not be similar of other countries. A simple example is Holland, it is not illegal to possess marijuana of no more than 3 grams. Yet, it would be a crime if a person driving is under the influence of marijuana. Citizens of Holland are allowed to smoke marijuana in specialized local coffee houses, but in other countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, its is illegal to posses and smoke marijuana and is a serious crime.

In Indonesia, it is illegal for a motorcyclist to ride on the highway, but in Malaysia, motorcyclist's are allowed on the speeding highway. Laws differ from place to place, this is usually to the difference in perception of certain things amongst the people.