QUESTION: "Which of the Malaysian Act of Parliament embodies most of Ronald Dworkin's

theory of law. Give your reason(s)"

PENAL CODE (ACT 574)

According to Dworkin, legal rules are applicable in an all-or-nothing fashion, for instance, a
legal rule is applied and operative automatically when the necessary conditions or elements
of the legal rule are met. On the other hand, the legal rule will not be operative if one of the
necessary elements has not been fulfilled. For example, there is a legal rule that the penalty
for murder is to be hung until death. Thus, a murderer will get the death penalty once all the
necessary elements establishing the offense of murder have been satisfied or established by
the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt standards. In this sense, the legal rule dictates a
particular result.

Under criminal law in Malaysia, the accused could only be convicted once all the elements of
the crime had been fulfilled. For example, the maxim “Actus Non-Facit Reum Nisi Mens Sit
Rea” must be fulfilled in order to criminalize that person. For example, in the case of murder,
there must be mens rea in the person's mind to put such person guilty of murder. A person
with actus reas only without mens rea may not be liable for punishment for murder. He might
only be liable for other offenses, for example, culpable homicide or negligence, or self-
defense. In criminal cases, the burden of proof is on the prosecution, and the standard
required of them is that they prove the case against the defendant “beyond reasonable
doubt”. Therefore, if the public prosecutor could not prove the case was beyond a
reasonable doubt, then the accused could not be held criminal liability