The role of Parliament

The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on

the Westminster system (in United Kingdom) system.
The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and
the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of
Parliament. The Parliament assembles in the Malaysian Houses of Parliament,
located in the national capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

There are five important functions of parliament:

to provide for the formation of a government

to legislate(such as to pass statute law, draft primary legislation and
appoint other parties to draft delegated legislation)
to provide the funds($$) needed for government
to provide a forum(meeting) for the citizens representation by member
of Parliament
to scrutinize(check and analyse) the actions of the government

Parliament is the legislative authority for the Federation and it creates laws
to be enforced nationwide. Parliament passes Federal laws, makes
amendments to existing Federal laws, examines the governments policies,
approves the governments expenditures and approves new taxes.
Parliament also serves as the forum to discuss matters of public interest. To
enable Parliament to undertake its responsibilities fully and effectively, the
Constitution confers certain rights and legal immunities under Parliamentary
Privileges to Members of Parliament.
Each House is empowered to regulate its own procedure; each has exclusive
control over its own proceedings, the validity of which may not be
questioned in any court; and each House can penalize its members for
breaches of the privilege or contempt of that House.

The extent of application of the English common law as applied in

Malaysia today

Historically, Malaysia was once a British colony. In 1957, Malaya gained

independence and in 1963, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore merged with
Malaya to form Malaysia. Singapore, however, came out of Malaysia in 1965.
You will find many English cases in our law and this is due to our colonial
past. In fact, there was a time when English law was imported fully to our
country. Today, we have our own legal structure and a body of law. However,
English law continues to influence the development of our law. This is
because Section 3 of the Civil Law Act 1956 expressly states that English
law forms part of our law provided that they can be applied to local
circumstances. In other words, the Civil Law Act allows our courts to refer to
English principles when interpreting our law.
So, when we need to refer to English law in our legal system, do we refer to
the English law that existed in 1956, or do we refer to English Law as of
current day today? Which time zone do we follow, now or 1956?
In Peninsular Malaysia (Semenanjung Malaysia), our courts shall apply the
common law of England & equity as administered in England on 7 April 1956.
In Sabah & Sarawak, the common law of England & equity together with the
statutes of general application shall be applied, as administered in England
on 1 December 1951 and 12 December 1949 respectively. These 2 different
cut of dates are unexplainable for now. Nevertheless, our judges can also
refer to recent developments in English law and wherever is appropriate
(taking into account local circumstances).
The application of English law is subjected to 2 limitations:
(i)

English law is only to be applied in the absence of local statutes on

a particular matter. Our local Malaysia law takes precedence(more
stronger law) over English law as English law is only meant to fill up
the gaps(lacuna) in the local system(that means we can refer to
English law for reference and guidance if our Malaysian law has
problem or something wrong with our law)

(ii)

Only that part of English law that is suited to local circumstances is

applied- Section 3(1)(a) Civil Law Act 1956. It is only allowed so
far only as the circumstances of the states of Malaysia and the
inhabitants of the country allow it, and it is subject to qualifications
as local circumstances that are necessary. The reason for this
proviso is because Malaysia is a nation of diverse races practising
different customs and religions. Therefore, having or rather
2

importing the England law fully in Malaysia may be unsuitable and it

is imposing itself and unknown system upon a society which is
different from the English society. (That means we can refer to
English Law only if it suitable and respectful to our local custom
traditions of Malaysians because in Malaysia, we have people from
different race and religion, so we need to give respect). If English
law is not suitable, we will not use English Law)