The application of English law or the common law is provided for in the statutes. Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states that English law applies in cases where no specific legislation has been adopted. Similarly, sections 3 and 5 of the Civil Law in the Civil Law Context Act permit the application of English common law, rules of equity and laws in Malaysian civil cases where no specific law has been enacted. In 2007, Malaysia`s Chief Justice, Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, questioned the need to use English customary law, even though Malaysia has been independent for 50 years, and proposed replacing it with Islamic jurisprudence or Sharia law. However, the Malaysian Bar Council replied that the common law was part of the Malaysian legal system and that it was not a basis for replacing it. Appeals to the Privy Council in England were abolished in 1985. The Supreme Courts are competent for all serious criminal cases and most civil cases. The court hears disputes between landlords and tenants and car accidents. District courts hear criminal cases in which the maximum penalty does not exceed 12 months. The Court of Appeal has jurisdiction over decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Cassation. The legal system in Malaysia is based on a set of written and unwritten laws. The writings include: the Federal Constitution as well as the constitutions of the 13 states that make up the Confederation, laws promulgated by Parliament and the Landtag, and delegated or subsidiary laws promulgated by bodies within the framework of the powers conferred on them by acts of Parliament or the Landtag. The study is commissioned and conducted by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI) Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI Regional Asia Programme and RWI Jakarta), “A Measure of Last Resort? The Current Status of Juvenile Justice in ASEAN Member States” is the first study of its kind to provide statistical and narrative overviews of juvenile justice systems in all ASEAN countries.
The aim was to identify issues of common interest in all Member States and RWI hopes that this can lead to new initiatives and dialogues that can improve the protection of children in conflict with the law. (rwi.lu.se/what-we-do/academic-activities/pub/a-measure-of-last-resort-the-current-status-of-juvenile-justice-in-asean-member-states/) The report was first presented by RWI in 2015 at the 13th United Nations Congress and on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Doha. Complications have arisen with regard to the dual judiciary, for example with regard to religious freedom. Article 11 of the Constitution states that “every human being has the right to profess and practise his religion”. However, in the case of Lina Joy – a Malay convert to Christianity – the Federal Court of Malaysia refused to allow her to change her religion listed on her identity card (MyKad). The judges found that they did not have jurisdiction in this case – that it was a sharia issue, as stated in Article 121(1A) of the Constitution. The legal system in Malaysia is based on a series of written and unwritten laws.4 min read The article attempts to critically compare youth justice reforms in the two jurisdictions of Bangladesh and Malaysia. It reviews legal reforms in accordance with international standards to ensure the efficiency of the juvenile justice system as well as the well-being of children in the respective legal systems. The practice of juvenile justice in Bangladesh and Malaysia is evidence that there are different laws, standards and systems for minors.
Following the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, significant progress has been made in both countries. Malaysia has introduced rehabilitation mechanisms for employment-based education and alternative measures to the Children Act 2001. Child-centred justice and alternative measures began with the entry into force of the Children Act 2013 in Bangladesh. For both countries, there is a need for a child-friendly justice system that would ensure sustainable juvenile justice. Studies of restorative policing in Malaysia are rare. The study of restorative policing in the Malaysian context is important because it will improve our understanding of the implementation of restorative policing in the Asian context, while complementing the Malaysian government`s recent efforts to integrate criminal justice into its criminal justice system. However, the implementation of restorative policing in Malaysia is expected to face some challenges, as Malaysia supports the practice of a criminal justice system (Hussin, 2011; Mohammad et al., 2019). A criminal justice system is associated with a reduction in restorative policies in favor of “populist crime” that requires harsh sentences for offenders (McAlinden, 2011; Mohammad et al., 2019a, Mohammad et al., 2019b). In recent years, the Tanzanian justice system has been tested by the increase in the number of minor witnesses in the justice system, which has not only posed a very serious problem for our society, but has also brought the justice system to the forefront in the way it treats these minor witnesses.
