1. 1.3 PARLIAMENT, THE EXECUTIVE AND THE JUDICIARY
1.1. parliament
1.1.1. supreme legislature/law maker of the country
1.1.2. Parliament consists
1.1.2.1. Yang di-Pertuan Agong
1.1.2.2. Dewan Negara
1.1.2.3. Dewan Rakyat
1.2. the executive
1.2.1. government of the day
1.3. the judiciary
1.3.1. is to decide cases based on existing law
2. 1.4 THE SOURCES OF MALAYSIAN LAW
2.1. Written Law
2.1.1. Statutes
2.1.1.1. Laws enacted by Parliament call statutes. State legislative assemblies may also enact laws under the powers conferred to them by the respective state constitutions. Example of directly statutes directly affect
2.1.1.1.1. Innkeepers Act 1952
2.1.1.1.2. Food Act 1983
2.1.1.1.3. Tourism Industry Act 1992
2.1.2. Delegated legislation
2.1.2.1. The laws made by the Minister are call delegated legislation
2.1.2.1.1. S34 of Food Act 1983 empowers the Minister of Health to make regulation in order to carry out the purposes of Act. Like other various regulations is Food Regulations 1985, Food Hygiene Regulations 2009
2.2. Unwritten Law
2.2.1. Common law
2.2.1.1. Judges make law when they adapt a significant different interpretation of existing law, or where they deal with first time situations covered by existing law. The cases that lay down the important principle are called ‘precedents’. Not all decisions form precedents. Only the decisions of superior courts will be considered precedents, these are binding on lower courts – Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) AC 562 The court’s decision laid the foundation for what became ‘the tort of negligence’
2.2.2. English Law
2.2.2.1. Section 3 Civil Law Act allows our courts to adopt English law as our law where they are applicable to local circumstances
2.2.3. Syariah Law
2.2.3.1. Most Syariah matters fall within the State List and are dealt with state legislative assemblies – ex: Halal certification system is intended to ensure that products are suitable for consumptions of Muslim.
2.2.4. Customs
2.2.4.1. Custom are no longer an important source of law, though in some areas such as marriage, divorce and inheritance, courts may look at customary law of relevant group of local inhabitants
3. 1.5 COURT STRUCTURE
3.1. Plaintiff
3.1.1. a person who brings a legal action against another in court
3.2. Appellant-
3.2.1. a person who applies to the higher court to reverse the decision of the lower court
3.3. Respondent-
3.3.1. a person who replies or responds to an appellant’s appeal of the trial court’s decision
3.4. Jurisdiction:
3.4.1. this refers to the power of a court. A sessions court, which is higher in the court hierarchy, has greater jurisdiction than a Magistrates’ Court
3.5. Original/ appellate jurisdiction:
3.5.1. court hears and decides a case by hearing a testimony and reviewing evidences. When a party is not satisfied with the decision, he may appeal. The courts that hears the appeal is the one with appellate jurisdiction.
3.6. Cases
3.6.1. Cases
3.6.1.1. involves a dispute between 2 parties. Disputes concerning contract, land, intellectual property, banking transactions etc. Losing defendant usually pays monetary compensation.
3.6.2. Criminal cases:
3.6.2.1. the states that takes action against the defendant who is found guilty can be imprisoned or sentenced to death.
3.7. Court system
3.7.1. Superior courts-
3.7.1.1. hear more types of cases, involving greater monetary value and also hears appeals.
3.7.2. Subordinate courts-
3.7.2.1. The new Subordinate Courts (Amendment) Act 2010 has increased the monetary jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court and Sessions Court. It empowered the Sessions court to try new type of cases, to grant injunctions and to make declarations.
3.8. Magistrates’ court
3.8.1. First class
3.8.1.1. hears all civil claims that do not exceed RM100,000
3.8.2. second class
3.8.2.1. only hea a civil matter that does not exceed RM10,000r
3.8.3. Criminal matters
3.8.3.1. can only try offences that are punishable with a maximum term of 10 years only or punishment by fine only. May pass a sentence not exceeding 5 years imprisonment; a fine of up to RM10,000; whipping of up to 12 strokes; or any one of the above sentences combined
3.9. Sessions courts
3.9.1. Hears all civil claims that exceed RM100,000 but do not exceed RM1,000,000 – all matters concerning motor vehicle accidents, landlord, tenant and distress, regardless of the monetary value.
3.10. High court
3.10.1. Try all criminal cases. In civil matter, hears cases where the claims exceed RM1,000,000 (except motor vehicle accidents, landlord and tenant and distress) Hear civil and criminal appeals against decisions of the subordinate courts.
3.11. Court of appeal
3.11.1. The court of Appeal hears civil and criminal appeals against decisions of the High Court.
3.12. Federal Court
3.12.1. The federal court hears civil appeals from the court of Appeal. The federal Court also hears criminal appeals from the Court of Appeal but only where the case was heard by the High Court in its original jurisdiction.
4. 1.1 INTRODUCTION
4.1. Legal System
4.1.1. A system of law that a country follows
4.1.2. Malaysia adopt the English model, where many laws are not codified into statutes
4.2. History
4.2.1. 1957: Independence Day
4.2.2. 1963: Sabah, Sarawak & Singapore marged in Malaya
4.2.3. 1965: Singapore seceded from Malaysia
4.2.4. Sabah & Sarawak are constitutionally entitled to preserve certain autonomy, institution and laws
4.3. English law
4.3.1. S3 Civil Law Act 1953
4.3.2. Peninsular Malaysia
4.4. Persuasive authority
4.4.1. English cases are merely persuasive authority
4.4.2. Cases and other sources of law that a court may consult in deciding a case, but need not follow in reaching its decision
5. 1.2 THE FEDERAL SYSTEM
5.1. Charateristics of a Faderal System
5.1.1. THREE (3) federal territories
5.1.2. THIRTEEN (13) states
5.1.3. The central/federal Government
5.1.4. State Government
5.1.5. Federal Government has NO complete power over the state government
5.1.6. State government has NO have total freedom to make the laws or to implement the policy it want
5.2. Federal Constitution
5.2.1. The supreme law of the Federation and any law passed after Merdeka Day
5.2.2. Lays down the fundamental characteristics of the country, the form and powers of the government, and the fundamental principles by which the country should follow
5.3. Different legislative competence
5.3.1. The state within the federation have their own legislative assemblies or law
5.3.2. Some matters are within the control of the states and NOT the federal government
5.4. Federal List
5.4.1. States the areas that Parliament may legislate
5.4.2. Example; National Defence
5.5. State List
5.5.1. Set out the areas that the state legislative assemblies can legislate on
5.5.2. Most islamic affirs fall within the State List
5.6. Toursim Planning
5.6.1. Falls under Federal List
5.6.2. Federal Government is responsible for overall tourism planning & development
5.6.3. Ministry of Tourism & Culture (MOTAC)
5.7. Tourism Policies & Guidelines
5.7.1. The Federal Government lays down the policies that affect the sector
5.7.2. The policies and guidelines do not have the force of law, government officials and the private sector tend to conform to them, as they embody the directions of government