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)