Malaysian Legal System and Constitutional Law: QUICK REVISION FOR EXAMS📚🖊️
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the Malaysian legal system and its historical background, beginning with local Islamic laws before British colonization. It highlights the formation of Malaysia's federal constitution, detailing key articles such as Article 4 (supremacy of the constitution) and Article 3 (official religion). The separation of powers, the role of the executive, judiciary, and legislature, as well as special laws on emergencies, are discussed. The video also touches on the hierarchy of civil, Sharia, and native courts, Bumiputra rights, and the importance of upholding democratic principles and justice in Malaysia.
Takeaways
- 📚 The video covers an introduction to the Malaysian legal system and its constitutional law, focusing on the Federal Constitution.
- 🇲🇾 Malaysia's legal system is rooted in local Islamic laws, such as Adat Temenggong and Adat Marpati, before British colonization.
- 🇬🇧 The British colonized Malaysia, bringing in the Charter of Justice, which laid the foundation for the current legal system based on British law.
- 📜 The Malaysian Federal Constitution has 183 articles and serves as the supreme law of the land, governing the country's legal structure.
- ⚖️ The three branches of government—executive, legislative, and judiciary—do not fully operate with a strict separation of powers in Malaysia.
- 🕌 Article 3 of the Federal Constitution states that Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, but Islamic law is only applicable to personal matters such as marriage and inheritance.
- 🗣️ Articles 5 to 12 of the Federal Constitution outline fundamental liberties, including freedoms related to speech, religion, movement, and education.
- 👑 The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of state with nominal powers, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, as described in Articles 32, 39, and 40.
- ⚔️ Article 121 separates the civil and Sharia courts in Malaysia, with a hierarchy that extends from the magistrate courts to the Federal Court.
- 🛡️ Article 149 deals with laws against subversion and public order, while Article 150 grants emergency powers to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Q & A
What is the significance of the Malaysian Federal Constitution in the country's legal system?
-The Malaysian Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land, consisting of 183 articles and several schedules. It forms the foundation for Malaysia's legal system and government structure, guiding legislation, governance, and citizens' rights.
How did British colonization impact the Malaysian legal system?
-British colonization introduced the first version of the Malaysian legal system, based on the British legal system, through the Charter of Justice. This marked the transition from local Islamic and adat (customary) laws to a more structured legal framework modeled after British law.
What are the three branches of government in Malaysia, and is there full separation of powers between them?
-Malaysia's government is divided into the executive, judiciary, and legislative branches. However, there is no complete separation of powers, as sometimes the executive intervenes in legislative matters and vice versa.
What does Article 4 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution state?
-Article 4 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution declares that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. This means that any law passed in Malaysia must be consistent with the Constitution, ensuring its authority over all other laws.
How does Article 3 of the Constitution define the role of Islam in Malaysia?
-Article 3 of the Constitution establishes Islam as the official religion of Malaysia, but Islamic law is limited to personal matters such as marriage, inheritance, and family issues, due to the British influence during colonization.
What rights and freedoms are protected under Articles 5 to 12 of the Federal Constitution?
-Articles 5 to 12 protect fundamental liberties, including the right to liberty (Article 5), freedom from slavery (Article 6), freedom from retrospective punishment (Article 7), equality (Article 8), freedom of movement (Article 9), freedom of speech (Article 10), freedom of religion (Article 11), and freedom of education (Article 12).
Who holds executive power in Malaysia according to Articles 32, 39, 40, and 43 of the Federal Constitution?
-Executive power in Malaysia is held by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) as the head of state, but his powers are largely nominal and exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister, particularly when it comes to appointing the Prime Minister and dissolving Parliament.
What is the significance of Articles 44, 46, and 73-79 in the Federal Constitution concerning legislative power?
-Articles 44, 46, and 73-79 outline the legislative powers in Malaysia, vested in Parliament at the federal level and state legislatures at the state level. Parliament has the authority to create laws for the entire country, while state legislatures can create laws specific to their states, but with limited scope.
How is the judiciary system structured in Malaysia?
-The judiciary in Malaysia, as outlined in Article 121, is divided into civil courts and Sharia courts. Civil courts follow a hierarchy from the Magistrate Court to the Federal Court, while Sharia courts deal with Islamic matters. Additionally, there are native courts for indigenous peoples in Sabah and Sarawak.
What is the purpose of Article 153 of the Federal Constitution regarding Bumiputra rights?
-Article 153 provides special privileges for Bumiputras, which include Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. These privileges cover areas like education, employment, and economic benefits, aimed at addressing the economic disparity among different racial groups in Malaysia.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to the Malaysian Legal System
In this video, the speaker, Avers, introduces the Malaysian legal system and constitutional law. He begins by discussing the Malaysian Federal Constitution, which consists of 183 articles and several schedules. The focus of the video is on understanding the legal system before delving into constitutional law. The speaker explains the influence of Islamic law before British colonization, the role of sultans, and the transition to the British legal system following the colonization of Malacca, Penang, and Singapore. The British introduced the Charter of Justice, leading to the formation of the Malaysian legal system, which eventually culminated in the Federal Constitution after independence. The video highlights the branches of government—executive, judiciary, and legislative—and their overlapping powers in Malaysia.
⚖️ The Malaysian Constitution and Fundamental Liberties
The video explores key aspects of the Malaysian Federal Constitution, starting with Article 4, which establishes it as the supreme law of the land. The speaker discusses the significance of Islam as the official religion under Article 3, while clarifying that Islamic law applies only to personal matters such as marriage and inheritance. He goes on to explain the fundamental liberties outlined in Articles 5-12, which cover freedom of liberty, slavery, retrospective crime, equality, movement, speech, religion, and education. The speaker emphasizes that any laws conflicting with these rights, such as prohibiting pregnant women from working, could be unconstitutional. Additionally, he clarifies the correct terminology for referring to constitutional articles.
🏛️ Executive Powers and the Role of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
The focus shifts to the executive branch of the government. The speaker discusses Articles 32, 39, 40, and 43, which describe the role of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the head of state with nominal powers. Although the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of the executive branch, his actions, such as dissolving Parliament or appointing the Prime Minister, are based on the advice of the Prime Minister as per Article 40. The Prime Minister must command a majority in the legislature to be appointed. The speaker highlights the division of powers within the executive branch and how the nominal role of the Agong aligns with democratic governance.
🏛️ The Legislative Branch and Law-Making Authority
The video covers the legislative powers under Articles 44, 46, and 73-79. The Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara hold the legislative power, with 222 members of Parliament involved in law-making. The speaker explains the division of powers between the federal government and the states. While the federal government can legislate on matters such as the military, police, and international treaties, state governments have limited law-making authority, restricted to local matters. The speaker underscores how this division of powers means there are no state-level military or police forces and no state can engage in international agreements, reinforcing the federal structure of Malaysia.
⚖️ The Judiciary and Its Structure
The speaker discusses the judiciary, which is outlined in Article 121 of the Federal Constitution. He explains the separation between the civil and Sharia courts and provides an overview of the civil court hierarchy, starting from the Magistrate Court and ending with the Federal Court, the highest court in Malaysia. The speaker notes that Sharia courts have their own separate hierarchy, while other courts, such as the Native Courts for Sabah and Sarawak, and the Court for Children, also exist within Malaysia. This section emphasizes the comprehensive nature of Malaysia’s judicial system and the various levels of courts.
🛡️ Special Laws and Emergency Powers
Here, the speaker explains Article 149, which allows for special laws against subversive acts like terrorism, exemplified by the Internal Security Act (ISA), now replaced by SOSMA. Article 150 gives the Yang di-Pertuan Agong the authority to declare a state of emergency, but even during emergencies, the Agong must act on the advice of the Prime Minister. Emergency laws can temporarily override fundamental liberties. For example, during an emergency, property could be confiscated without the usual legal recourse. This section highlights the balance between national security and individual rights during times of crisis.
🗣️ National Language and Bumiputra Rights
The speaker covers Articles 152 and 153, focusing on the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, and Bumiputra rights. Although Bahasa Malaysia is the national language, other languages can still be used and spoken. Article 153 grants special rights to the Bumiputra, which includes Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. These rights cover areas like employment, education, and economic benefits, aimed at reducing poverty among the majority populations. While these provisions are designed to promote equality, they have also faced criticism for creating racial divisions.
👑 Special Court for Malay Rulers and the Rule of Law
The final part of the video addresses Article 181, which outlines the establishment of the Special Court for Malay Rulers. This court was created to ensure that the sultans are held accountable for their actions and cannot abuse their power with impunity. The article ensures that even the sultans must govern within the framework of fairness, justice, and the rule of law, promoting Malaysia as a democratic nation. The speaker stresses that the purpose of this provision is not to undermine the royal family but to prevent arbitrary governance and ensure democratic accountability.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Malaysian Legal System
💡Federal Constitution
💡Charter of Justice
💡Separation of Powers
💡Fundamental Liberties
💡Executive Branch
💡Legislative Branch
💡Judiciary
💡Article 153
💡Emergency Powers
Highlights
Introduction to the topic of Malaysian legal system and constitutional law as fundamental to understanding Malaysia's governance.
Overview of the Malaysian Federal Constitution, consisting of 183 articles, which forms the backbone of the legal studies in Malaysia.
Before British colonization, Malaysia practiced local Islamic laws with sultans governing individual states, highlighting the pre-colonial legal framework.
Adat Tamangong and Adat Merpati: two significant systems of local laws before British rule, with Tamangong focusing on Islamic Sharia and Merpati on matrilineal practices.
Impact of British colonization on the legal system, introducing the Charter of Justice, shaping Malaysia's modern legal landscape.
Malaysia’s unsuccessful Malayan Union and eventual independence under the Federal Constitution, illustrating the evolution of the nation's legal and political structure.
The Malaysian legal system is not fully separated among the executive, judiciary, and legislative branches, raising questions on the separation of powers.
Article 4 of the Federal Constitution: establishes the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, foundational to Malaysia's sovereignty.
Article 3 of the Federal Constitution: declares Islam as the official religion, but limits Islamic law to personal matters like marriage, inheritance, and family.
Fundamental liberties in Articles 5 to 12 of the Federal Constitution, including rights such as freedom from slavery, freedom of speech, and equality.
Executive powers outlined in Articles 32, 39, 40, and 43 of the Constitution, especially emphasizing the role of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) as head of state.
The federal legislative branch and its powers defined by Articles 44, 46, and 73-79, differentiating federal versus state law-making authority.
Judiciary branch described under Article 121, distinguishing between civil courts and Sharia courts, alongside the hierarchy within each system.
Special emergency powers and laws for public security, including Article 149 (against subversion) and Article 150 (emergency powers).
Article 153 of the Constitution outlines Bumiputera rights, offering certain economic privileges to Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak.
Transcripts
hey what's up guys this is avers here
and welcome back to my channel in this
video we are gonna be talking about the
malaysian legal system as well as the
constitutional law before we proceed we
shall dive into the topic of malaysian
legal system first in order for us to
understand the malaysian constitutional
law what i have with me is the malaysian
federal constitution it consists of 183
articles and several schedules most of
your time studying law will be mostly
based on this before we have a lengthy
discussion on the malaysian federal
constitution it is important for us to
understand the malaysian legal system
first and its history before the british
came and colonized malaysia starting
with malacca and in all the states in
malaysia we had our own local islamic
laws we had sultans in each states as
well as on the island of borneo led by
the sultan of brunei the local laws in
malaysia consisted of adat tamangong as
well as adet marpati alatomangong
focuses more on the islamic aspects of
islamic sharia law especially on the
pharah eat distribution of land whereas
merpati law is more on the matrilineal
side where women has more rights as
compared to men as men can survive on
their own will and on their own
vocations that is until when the british
came and colonized malaysia apart from
malacca which was surrendered by the
dutch to the english in 1821 or 1824 the
british also came to penang and
singapore thus beginning the first ever
version of the malaysian legal system
which is just basically a succession or
a continuation of the british legal
system this came with the charter of
justice there were several amendments
and changes towards the charter of
justice until one day when the british
colonized all of the peninsula malaysia
they tried to form the malayan union
which was then opposed and became
unsuccessful later the peninsular
malaysia or sumananjin malaysia achieved
independence with the federal
constitution and this federal
constitution also extended to salva
sarwa and singapore when malaya to form
malaysia which then singapore left in
1965 and therefore brings us to our
mother federal constitution which has
been amended until this very day in our
malaysian legal system we have different
branches of government which are the
executive judiciary and legislative does
malaysia practice full separation powers
that is for us to decide as future
lawyers it is entirely dependent on our
own answers but most of the time in
malaysia there is no complete separation
of powers between within these three
branches sometimes the executive
intervenes within the legislative and
sometimes the legislative intervenes
within the judiciary we can now focus on
the federal constitution itself
according to article 4 of the federal
constitution this constitution is the
supreme law of the land without the
federal constitution there will be no
country known as malaysia and there will
be no people known as malaysians this
tells the whole world that we are a
country and we have our own people
afterwards we have article 3 of the
federal constitution which states that
islam is the official religion however
because we mentioned that the british
came and colonized malaysia islamic law
applied and malaysia is only limited to
personal matters for instances islamic
law is only applicable in relations to
marriage inheritance divorce and other
family matters afterwards we shall now
focus on article 5 to 12 of the federal
constitution which touches upon the
fundamental liberties article 5 is for
freedom of liberty article 6 is freedom
from slavery article 7 is freedom from
retrospective crime incremental and
punishment and laws that do not apply at
that time article 8 is for equality
article 9 is freedom of movement and for
banishment article 10 is for freedom of
speech and expression article 11 is for
freedom of religion finally article 12
is for freedom of education for example
if there is a law that forbids pregnant
women from working then it may be
unconstitutional because it goes against
article 8 of the federal constitution
the correct pronunciation for articles
is for instances article 10 clause 2
paragraph 8 of the federal constitution
there is no such thing as section 10
subsection 2 paragraph a now that we
have touched upon those important
articles we would like to bring your
attention to the executive provisions
the executive are the people who are
actually the head of government as well
as the head of state and they perform
daily governmental duties within the
country for instance we shall now focus
on article 32 39 40 and 43 of the
federal constitution article 3 states
that young deputy agung is the head of
state and we when we mention that he is
the head of state he has nominal powers
article 39 states that the young patron
agong is also the executive however
according to article 40 since we
mentioned that the powers of the young
departure on agon is nominal
he will have to act on the advice of the
prime minister especially when it comes
to dissolving parliament and appointing
the prime minister according to article
43 of the federal constitution the prime
minister can only be appointed when he
has a command of the majority within the
legislature or the day one right yet and
he must be appointed by the young
dipathon agon which shall now move
forward to the legislative branch of
government this can be found under
articles 44 46 and 73 until 79 of the
federal constitution article 44 states
that the legislative power is within the
devil right yet as well as the day when
negara
article 46 states that there needs to be
a 222 members of parliament in their
right the powers to create laws are
vested between the federation as well as
the states and we have mentioned that it
is between article 73 until 79. the
federal parliament can create laws as
well as the daiwan undangangan negri or
the state legislative can create their
own laws this is manifested between the
ninth schedule to list one and list two
meaning to say that the federation has
very wide powers to create laws in
relation to the whole malaysian country
whereas the state can create laws
limited in only their own states for
example the federation can create laws
in relation to military the police laws
related to international treaties and so
forth however the states cannot create
such laws that is the reason why we
cannot see and there is no police or
military versions in state we do not see
that there is the army of jihor we do
not see that there is the police of
jihor we do not see that johor can
create international agreements with
other countries malaysia despite it
being a federal country the states have
to surrender some of their powers
through the federation we shall now move
onwards to the judiciary judiciary can
be found under article 121 of the
federal constitution which separates
between the civil courts and the sharia
courts in the civil courts we have the
hierarchy of courts starting from the
magistrate court to the session court to
the high court the court of appeal and
finally the apex court which is the
federal court if any person were to
commit an offense such as murder they
will have to start from the lower courts
and if they lose each case then they
have to appeal all the way to the
federal court the sharia courts also
have their own hierarchy not just that
we have our own civil courts and sharia
courts but we also have other courts
such as the native courts for the people
in sabah and sarawak as well as the
court for children now that we have
dealt with the judiciary government we
shall now move onward to the remaining
provisions within this video we have
article 149 which is a law for special
laws against subversion acts prejudicial
to public order such as terrorism this
can be seen through the internal
security act which had been repealed
with the sosmo law we also have article
150 of the federal constitution which is
related to emergency powers the
emergency proclaimed by the young dipton
nagong is not a military coup emergency
powers is vested within the yangti
patuan agong and he can declare the
emergency again according to article 40
the young dipathon agong will still have
to follow the advice of the prime
minister when an emergency it is clear
the government can create laws which is
inconsistent with the fundamental
liberties if the government were to
create a law to confiscate your house or
your property then you cannot challenge
that law during the emergency article
152 is for the national language which
is the malay language or bahasa malaysia
even if bahasa malaysia is the national
language other languages can be
practiced and spoken within malaysia
article 153 is for the bhumi putra
rights these booby prusa rights extend
to the malay people as well as the
natives of sabah and sarawak some of the
benefits of the booming future rights
will include access to employment
education scholarships and other
economic benefits it may be justified in
order to alleviate the poverty line
among the majority people of this
country which are the belays and the
people of sabbath and sarawak criticisms
oppose this because fights and further
segregates between the russian groups in
malaysia lastly in this video we are
going to be touching upon article 181 of
the federal constitution which are the
special courses for the malay rulers the
special court for malay rulers was
actually created because there were
instances whereby the sultans in
malaysia abused their powers and could
evade liability and there will be no
impunity for them this amendment or this
insertion of this article is to ensure
that again the executives or the young
people and the sultans will not be
abusing or become an arbitrary vehicle
power within this country to rule or
govern this nation based on their own
whims this is not to defame or insult
the sultan or the royal family but it is
to ensure that malaysia is a democratic
society a country which abides by the
rule of law and that the sultan could
govern and administer the country with
fairness and justice and bring
prosperity and harmony within this
nation
[Music]
that is all that we have in this video
thank you guys so much for tuning in i
hope to see you guys more in the
upcoming videos that i'll be making
until then have a fantastic and awesome
day ahead of you
see ya
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