Constitution of Malaysia
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The Constitution of Malaysia, comprising 181 articles, is the supreme law of Malaysia. Refer [here] for the full text.
History
The Constitution was drafted based on the advice of the Reid Commission which conducted a study in 1956. The Constitution came into force on August 27, 1957. (Formal independence was only achieved on August 31, however.)Amendments
To amend the Constitution, a two-third majority agreeing to the amendment is required in both houses of Parliament. However, amendments pertaining to the powers of sultans and their respective states, the status of Islam in the Federation, the status and rights of Bumiputras, the status of the Malay language as the official language, to name a few example, shall require the assent of the Conference of Rulers.According to constitutional scholar Shad Saleem Faruqi, the Constitution has been amended 42 times over the 48 years since independence as of 2005. However, as several amendments were made each time, he estimates the true number of individual amendments is around 650. When asked if "the spirit of the original document has been diluted", he replied that "there is no doubt about it."
Organisation
The Constitution is divided into 14 parts and 13 Schedules. Each part and schedule contain relevant articles. There are 181 articles in the 14 parts, including those which have been repealed.
- Part I - The States, Religion and Law of the Federation
- Part II - Fundamental Liberties
- Part III - Citizenship
- Part IV - The Federation
- Part V - The States
- Part VI - Relations Between the Federation and the States
- Part VII - Financial Provisions
- Part VIII - Elections
- Part IX - The Judiciary
- Part X - Public Services
- Part XI - Special Powers Against Subversion, Organised Violence, and Acts and Crimes Prejudicial to the Public and Emergency Powers
- Part XII - General and Miscellaneous
- Part XIIA - Additional Protections for States of Sabah and Sarawak
- Part XIII - Temporary and Transitional Provisions
- Part XIV - Saving for Rulers' Sovereignty, Etc.
- First Schedule - Oath of Applications for Registration of Naturalisation
- Second Schedule - Citizenship of persons born before, on and after Malaysia Day
- Third Schedule - Election and removal of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and his deputy
- Fourth Schedule - Oaths of Office of Yang di-Pertuan Agong and his deputy
- Fifth Schedule - The Conference of Rulers
- Sixth Schedule - Forms of Oaths and Affirmations
- Seventh Schedule - Election and Retirement of Senators
- Eighth Schedule - Provisions to be inserted in State Constitution
- Ninth Schedule - Legislative Lists (The responsibilities and rights of the Federal and State government)
- Tenth Schedule - Grants and Source of Revenue Assigned to States
- Eleventh Schedule - Provisions of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance, 1948 (Malayan Union Ordinance no. 7 of 1948), Applied for Interpretation of the Constitution
- Twelfth Schedule - (Repealed)
- Thirteenth Schedule - Provisions Relating to Delimitation of Constituencies
- Notes - The original texts of articles 1 to 15 before they were modified.
Notable articles
Article 10
To read May 13 Incident
To read Operation Lalang
Article 10 (1) guarantees the freedom of speech, the right to assemble peacefully and the right to form associations to every Malaysian citizen. However, Parliament may by law impose restrictions on these rights in the interest of the security of the Federation, friendly relations with other countries, public order, morality; and restrictions designed to protect the privileges of Parliament, to provide against contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to any offence.
Article 10 (4) states that Parliament may pass law prohibiting the questioning of any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of Part III, article 152, 153 or 181 of the constitution
Article 121
To read Status of religious freedom in Malaysia.
In 2006 a judge ruled that Article 121 limited the federal courts from ruling on matters ruled on by the Syariah court (Islamic court).
Article 149
Article 149 gives power to the Parliament to pass laws to suspend a person's fundamental rights vested to him in Part II of the Constitution if the Parliament believes that the person is a threat to national security or public order notwithstanding the fact that the laws are conflicting with Article 5, 9, 10 and 13 and 79.
The laws passed to the effect of this article include, to name a few:
- Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Revised 1980)
- Internal Security Act 1960 (Revised 1972)
- Official Secrets Act 1972
- Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984
- Sedition Act 1948 (Revised 1969)
- Universities and University Colleges Act 1971
Article 152
Article 152 states that the national language is the Malay language. However, the Constitution guarantees the freedom of learning and using of other languages, except on official purposes. "Official purposes" here means any purpose of the Government, whether Federal or State, and includes any purpose of a public authority. To this effect, all court proceedings and parliamentary documents and meetings are conducted in Malay.
Article 153
Article 153 grants the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or King of Malaysia, responsibility for safeguarding the rights and privileges of the Malay and other indigenous peoples of Malaysia, collectively referred to as Bumiputra. The article specifies how the federal government may protect the interest of these groups by establishing quotas for entry into the civil service, public scholarships and public education. It is often considered to be part of the social contract.
Article 160
Article 160 defines various terms used in the Constitution. It has an important impact on Islam in Malaysia and the Malay people due to its definition of a Malay person under clause 2.
Article 181
Article 181 guarantees the sovereignty, rights, powers and jurisdictions of each sultans within their respective states. They also cannot be charged in the court of law in their personal capacities.
See also
- History of Malaysia
- Politics of Malaysia
- Malaysian General Election
- Status of religious freedom in Malaysia
- 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis
External links
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