Judiciary of Malaysia

The Sultan Abdul Samad Building nearby Merdeka Square for-

merly housed the superior courts of the country. Today the courts
have shifted to either the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya during the
early 2000s, or the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex in 2007.
Judiciary of Malaysia is largely centralized despite
Malaysias federal constitution, heavily inuenced by the
English common law and to a lesser extent Islamic law,
and is mostly independent from political interference.
[1]
1 Current system
There are generally two types of trials, criminal and civil.
The hierarchy of courts begins from the Magistrates
Court, Sessions Court, High Court, Court of Appeal, and
nally, the Federal Court.
[2]
The jurisdiction of the courts
in civil or criminal matters are contained in the Subordi-
nate Courts Act 1948 and the Courts of Judicature Act
1964. Article 121 of the Constitution provides for two
High Courts of coordinate jurisdiction, the High Court in
Malaya, and the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak. Thus
this creates two separate local jurisdiction of the courts
for Peninsular Malaysia and for East Malaysia. The
highest position in the judiciary of Malaysia is the Chief
Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia (also known as
the Chief Justice of Malaysia), followed by the President
of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Judge of Malaya, and
the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak. The superior
courts are the High Court, Court of Appeal, and the Fed-
eral Court, while the Magistrates Courts and the Sessions
Courts are classied as subordinate courts.
The current President of the Federal Court is Justice
Dato' Abdul Hamid Mohamad, the President of the Court
of Appeal is Tan Sri Dato' Zaki bin Tun Azmi, and the
Chief Judge of Malaya is Justice Dato' Alauddin Mo-
hamad Sheri. The current Chief Judge of Sabah and
Sarawak is Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum (appointed
2006). Bypassing many other senior judges, Tan Sri
Dato' Zaki was the rst lawyer appointed directly to the
Federal Court. After some 2 months as a sitting judge,
Tan Sri Dato' Zaki was subsequently appointed as the
President of the Court of Appeal.
1.1 Superior courts
1.1.1 Federal Court
Further information: Federal Court of Malaysia
The Federal Court is the highest court in Malaysia. The
Federal Court may hear appeals of civil decisions of the
Court of Appeal where the Federal Court grants leave
to do so. The Federal Court also hears criminal appeals
from the Court of Appeal, but only in respect of matters
heard by the High Court in its original jurisdiction (i.e.
where the case has not been appealed from the Subordi-
nate Courts).
1.1.2 Court of Appeal
Further information: Malaysian Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal generally hears all civil appeals
against decisions of the High Courts except where against
judgment or orders made by consent. In cases where the
claim is less than RM250,000, the judgment or order re-
lates to costs only, and the appeal is against a decision of a
judge in chambers on an interpleader summons on undis-
puted facts, the leave of the Court of Appeal must rst
be obtained.The Court of Appeal also hears appeals of
criminal decisions of the High Court. It is the court of -
nal jurisdiction for cases which began in any subordinate
courts.
1.1.3 High Courts
Further information: High Courts of Malaysia
The two High Courts in Malaysia have general supervi-
sory and revisionary jurisdiction over all the Subordinate
1
2 1 CURRENT SYSTEM
Courts, and jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Subor-
dinate Courts in civil and criminal matters.
The High Courts have unlimited civil jurisdiction,
and generally hear actions where the claim exceeds
RM1,000,000, other than actions involving motor vehi-
cle accidents, landlord and tenant disputes and distress.
The High Courts hear all matters relating to:
the validity or dissolution of marriage (divorce) and
matrimonial causes,
bankruptcy and matters relating to the winding-up
of companies,
guardianship or custody of children,
grants of probate, wills and letters of administration
of estates,
injunctions, specic performance or rescissions of
contracts,
legitimacy of persons.
The High Courts have unlimited jurisdiction in all crimi-
nal matters other than matters involving Islamic law. The
High Courts have original jurisdiction in criminal cases
punishable by death.
Cases are heard by a single judge in the High Court, or by
a judicial commissioner. While High Court judges enjoy
security of tenure, judicial commissioners are appointed
for a term of two years, and do not enjoy similar protec-
tion under the Constitution.
An application for a judicial review is applied in this
court.
1.2 Subordinate courts
The Magistrates Courts and Sessions Courts in Malaysia
have jurisdiction in both criminal and civil matters.
1.2.1 Sessions Courts
Somewhat like the former Quarter Sessions in England,
but does not exceed RM1,000,000 as per ss 65(1)(b),
73(b), 93(1) of the Subordinate Courts Act 1948 (SCA).
The exception however is in matters relating to motor ve-
hicle accidents, landlord and tenant and distress, where
the Sessions Courts have unlimited jurisdiction pursuant
to s 65(1)(a)SCA. Also, by virtue of s 65(3) SCA, the
parties to a legal action may enter into an agreement in
writing to grant jurisdiction to the Sessions Court to try an
action beyond its prescribed monetary jurisdiction afore-
said.
1.2.2 Magistrates Courts
Magistrates are divided into First Class and Second Class
Magistrates, the former being legally qualied and having
greater powers. Second Class Magistrates are now not
normally appointed.
In criminal matters, First Class Magistrates Courts gen-
erally have power to try all oences of which the max-
imum term of imprisonment does not exceed 10 years
or which are punishable with ne only, but may pass sen-
tences of not more than ve years imprisonment, a ne of
up to RM10,000, and/or up to twelve strokes of the cane
under section 87 (1) Subordinate Court Act 1948. The
Magistrates Courts hear all civil matters with less than
RM100,000 in dispute. The Magistrates Courts also hear
appeals from the Penghulus Courts.
1.2.3 Other courts
The court of a penghulu, or Malay village head, has the
power to hear civil matters of which the claim does not
exceed RM50, where the parties are of an Asian race and
speak and understand the Malay language.
The Penghulu Courts criminal jurisdiction is limited to
oences of a minor nature charged against a person of
Asian race which is specially enumerated in his warrant,
which can be punished with a ne not exceeding RM50.
However the Penghulu Court has been abolished
since 1 March 2013
In Sabah and Sarawak, there are no Penghulus Courts,
but there are instead Native Courts having jurisdiction on
matters of native law and custom.
The Court for Children, previously known as the Juvenile
Court, hears cases involving minors except cases carrying
the death penalty, which are heard in High Courts instead.
Cases for children are governed by the Child Act 2001.
A child is dened as any person below the age of 18.
The Special Court was established in 1993 to hear cases
of oences or wrongdoings made by a Ruler. A Ruler
includes the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), the sultans
of monarchical states in Malaysia, the Yang di-Pertua
Negeri, and the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, i.e.: the head
of states of Malaysia and its component states. Prior to
this, a Ruler was immune from any proceedings brought
against them in their personal capacity.
[3]
1.3 Syariah Courts
There is a parallel system of state Syariah Courts which
has limited jurisdiction over matters of state Islamic
(sharia) law. The Syariah Courts have jurisdiction only
over matters involving Muslims, and can generally only
pass sentences of not more than three years imprison-
ment, a ne of up to RM5,000, and/or up to six strokes
3
of the cane.
2 Appointment of judges
The appointment of the Chief Justice is governed by Ar-
ticle 122B of the Constitution of Malaysia whereby the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) appoints the Chief Justice
on the advice of the Prime Minister of Malaysia after con-
sulting the Conference of Rulers. As for the appointment
of the President of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Judge
of Malaya, the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, and
other Federal Court judges, similar procedure is taken
with the additional requirement of consultation with the
Chief Justice.
[4]
The appointment of Court of Appeal judges is also gov-
erned by the same procedures with the additional re-
quirement for the consultation of the President of the
Court of Appeal. As for the appointment of High Court
judges, similar procedures are prescribed with the ad-
ditional requirement of consultation with the respective
Chief Judges.
The appointment of Sessions Court judges is governed by
Section 59 of the Subordinate Court Act 1948. They are
appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong upon the advice
of the respective Chief Judges.
Section 78 of the Subordinate Courts Act 1948 provides
that the appointment of magistrates are done by the re-
spective state government upon the advice of the respec-
tive Chief Judges, except for magistrates in the Fed-
eral Territory, where thy are appointed by the Yang di-
Pertuan Agong upon the advice of the Chief Judge.
3 List of Chief Justices of the Fed-
eral Court
Main article: Chief Justice of Malaysia
Abdul Hamid Omar 1994, previously Lord Presi-
dent
Mohamed Euso Chin 1994 2000
Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah 2000 2003
Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim 2003 2007
Abdul Hamid Mohamad 2007 - 2008
Zaki Tun Azmi 20082011
Tun Arin Zakaria (2011present)
[5]
For a list of Lord Presidents, see Lord President of the
Federal Court.
4 See also
Law of Malaysia
Capital punishment in Malaysia
1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis
5 Notes and references
[1] Courts &Judgments. JURIST: The Legal Education Net-
work. 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
[2] Malaysian criminal court system. Association of Com-
monwealth Criminal Lawyers. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
[3] Constitution of Malaysia:Article 43-2, now amended.
[4] Jurisdiction of the Court. Malaysian Courts. Retrieved
2008-08-04.
[5] Arin appointed Chief Justice. The Star. Retrieved
2011-09-11.
6 External links
Ocial website
High Court in Sabah and Sarawak
4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
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Judiciary of Malaysia Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Malaysia?oldid=613881623 Contributors: Alex.tan, Earth, The-
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Montebrum and Anonymous: 41
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