Malaysian Law Case Study

1.1 The source of Malaysian Law First of all, I would like to brief to you about the sources of law in Malaysia. Sources of law in Malaysia are consist of three main law which are Written Law, Unwritten Law and Islamic Law. The most important law among the three laws is the Written Law. It is quite different with England, their main source of law is the Unwritten Law in the form of Common Law and the Rules of Equity. Written Law refers to the law embodied in the Federal Constitutions and State Constitutions. Moreover, the federal legislation, state legislation and subsidiary legislation are also included in the Written Law. The Federal Constitutions is the supreme law in Malaysia. In it there are details about the power

Subsidiary Legislation is when a law is enacted, the Legislature usually makes extensive provisions on the policy and surrenders the next law in detail to other bodies or agencies. The example of the Subsidiary Legislation is usually the laws for everyday matter like parking, food standard and taxation. There are so many advantages of Subsidiary Legislation like save time for legislature. Unfortunately, there are also some flaws in the Subsidiary Legislation like the increase of executive power but reducing the power of the legislature. So, the way to control it are by judicial control, legislative control, publication and consultation. There is a case based on judicial control, the Teh Cheng Poh v Public Prosecutor Malaysia [1976]. The appellants were charged with possession of firearms or ammunition in a security area. The Essential (Amendment) (Security Cases) Regulations 1975 were declared to be ultra vires (beyond legal power) because it was contrary to Article 150 (2) of Federal Constitution. A legislative delegation will not be based on the Constitution if it is contrary to the

Lastly, the Islamic Law is also one of the main source of law in Malaysia. Islamic Law is also known as the Syariah Law. Laws of Islam are revealed through Nabi Muhammad S.A.W in the Al-Quran & the Sunnah. Before the British intervention, the Malay-Muslim was a basic law of land. Unfortunately, the law has been reduced to manage the personal matters. The great news is the civil courts still acknowledged the Islamic Law to the local and not make it as a foreign law. This is equal to the case of Ramah v Laton [1927] where the court says that Islamic law is not a foreign law but a local law and state law. The court has to take note of this law and declare it. Moreover, Islamic Law also dealing with marriage, property and family. The Majlis Agama Islam, National Fatwa Committee is the Administration of Islamic Law. Islamic Law is only can be implemented to the muslim only and non-muslim are not included. Then, the states have the power to handle the Islamic Law and the State Legislative has the authorithy over the Constitution and procedure of the Syariah Courts. The High Court also cannot interfere the Syariah Court. Morever, there are also Civil Jurisdiction of Syariah Courts and Crime Jurisdiction of Syariah Courts. The Civil Jurisdiction is more on engaging, rights to the children and wakaf while the Crime Jurisdiction is more about gambling and