Southeast Asian Region Countries Law

Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy. It was formed in 1963 as a federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, all former British colonies. Malaysia was granted independence from Britain in 1957. Singapore left the federation in 1965. Malaysia today comprises 13 states and three federal territories. Each state has its own elected assembly and head of state. Nine of the states are ruled by traditional monarchs, known as sultans, who elect the Malaysian Head of State, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Although the formal head of State, the functions of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong have been purely ceremonial since constitutional amendments in 1993 and 1994. Malaysia is a member of the Commonwealth.

The following resources include general country information - history, demographics, economy, politics and government etc.

The Malaysian legal system is a complex product of its history, particularly as a British colony. It is a predominantly common law country, with a separate Islamic law system.

See:

Legal Systems in ASEAN: Malaysia (open access) from the ASEAN Law Association. Although a little dated, this provides an excellent and detailed overview of the Tracing the development of the Legal System, and the Administration of Justice.

The sources of law in current day Malaysia include:

• Common law ie: judge made law.
• Legislation - Federal and State
• Treaties / international law
• Islamic law
  • Muslims are subject to Islamic / Syariah Law. Islamic laws are mostly civil laws (personal laws and family law). The rules of Syariah are set by various sultans, who serve as Head of the Islamic religion in their respective states. Islamic laws are enacted by state legislatures, except for the Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya); Federal Territories laws are enacted by the Federal Parliament.

See:

The Rule of Law & Human Rights in Malaysia page on the Human Rights in ASEAN website (open access). 

The World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - Country Profile for Malaysia (open access).

• In 2017-18, Malaysia was ranked 53rd out of 113 countries.
• Latest World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index (Full Report)

Update on the Rule of Law for Human Rights in ASEAN: The Path to Integration (2016) (open access) (published by the Human Rights Resource Centre). Includes a detailed chapter on Malaysia.

Malaysia has a National Human Rights Commission with the power to accept individual complaints of human rights abuse. The Commission’s findings and recommendations, however, are not binding.