MALAYSIA

Federal Constitution of Malaysia and the Functions of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia

Federal Constitution of Malaysia and the Functions of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and explore the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. The paper will discuss the conceptions on the basis of which the constitution was formulated; nonetheless, the paper will also present several amendments that have been made in the constitution. The core objective of the paper is to focus on part I of the Malaysian constitution and its implication in the country. In addition, the paper also illustrates the functions of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, and the significance of the institution in the country.

Federal Constitution of Malaysia Part I

The federal constitution of Malaysia is responsible for the implications of several legislations in the country; nonetheless, there are 183 articles that are contained by the constitution. Moreover, different sources assert that the federal constitution of Malaysia was pioneered by the conceptions pointed out in 1948 and 1957 by the Constitution of Independence. The advice proposed by Reid Commission had a significant influence on the issuance of the constitution; nonetheless, the implication of the Malaysian Federal Constitution was realized immediately after the independence of Malaysia in 1957 (Fernando, 2006, 64-73.

There are several articles in part I of Malaysian Constitution. Nevertheless, the entire constitution is based on more than 180 articles. Nevertheless, the implications of this part of the constitution related to the state legislations, federal legislations and religious affairs. According to the implication of part I, Malaysia is declared as an Islamic state; nonetheless, there is no restriction on the practice of other religions. Another implication proposed by part I of Malaysian constitution assert that head of every state in Malaysia must be a Muslim in order to recognize and acknowledge the context of an Islamic State and its Constitution.

Nonetheless, there are several concerns that assert that the promises related to civil liberties have remained unfulfilled. Peaceful Assembly Act contradicts the “uphold civil liberties” pledge by Prime Minister Najib Razak's that resulted as a ban for “assemblies in motion”. Nevertheless, this contradiction authorizes police and legislative departments to supervise and control the content of public meetings which is a serious violation of freedom of speech and violation of the human rights. In addition, the Internal Security Act proposed by Malaysian government also contrasts the constitution by proposing an administrative detention law. Several articles in Malaysian constitution promote freedom of speech in the country; however, this negation has manipulated the human rights and restricted freedom of speech and expression (Martinez, 2001, 44-56).

The part I of Malaysian Constitution also asserts that the validity of the legislations in terms of the federal state affairs will not be challenged questioned on the basis of the restrictions imposed from the constitution on the referred rights in Article 9 (2). Nonetheless, the rest of the implications are also termed undeniable. In case, if the constitution applied any restraint referring to in Article 10 (2), then the ...