INTRODUCTION TO

LAW IN MALAYSIA
ISH300
ACADEMY OF CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC STUDIES
UITM CAWANGAN NEGERI SEMBILAN
Learning outcome

 Students will be able to:

 Understand the concept and basic Malaysian Halal

Laws
 Identify the implementation of international halal
Certification
 Analyses the application of Malaysia Halal Laws
DEFINITION OF LAW

➢ What is Law?
⌖ No agreed definition of law.
⌖ Some even say it can never be defined…
⌖ Law is a set of rules, regulations necessary to
govern people in a community, state or nation.
What is Law ?
“Law is generally the procedures
and the rules of conduct or act
which one uses one’s every sense in
order to harmonize the convenient of
a oneself and or another” .
 Defintion of Law
➢ Oxford English Dictionary (Lee Mei Pheng ,2005)
‘the body of enacted or customary rules recognised by a community as binding.

➢ Sir John Salmond ,Jurisprudence (Lee Mei Pheng ,2005)

‘the body of principles recognised and applied by the State in the administration of
justice law consists of the rules recognised and acted on by courts of justice.

➢ Law is the body of official rules and regulation, generally found in constitution,
legislation, judicial opinions and used it to govern a society and to control the
behaviour or its members, so law is a mechanism of social control.
 To
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Generally, LAW is…

➢A set of rules enforceable by authority or

custom; or by the state which the parliament,
the government, the king, the monarch or the
court has made which everyone has to follow or
otherwise they have to face sanctions or
penalty as consequences of its breach.
JURIST VIEW LAW AS…

 St. Thomas Aquinas (Natural

Law Jurist):
 “Law is a rule and measure
of acts, whereby man is
induced to act or to restrain
from acting…now the rule
and measure of human acts
is the reason, which is the first
principle of human
acts…consequently it follows
that;
 “Law is something pertaining to reason.”

8
 9

 John Austin (Positivist):

“Law is a command
set by the sovereign
or superior being to
an inferior being,
enforced by
sanctions.”
 10

 Roscoe Pound (Sociologist):

 “Law is an instrument of
social engineering; to
maximize the fulfillment
of interest of the
community, provide
smooth running of the
machinery of society.”
 11

 H.L.A Hart:
“Law is a
system of rules
specifically a
systematic union
at the center of
primary and
secondary
rules.”
 12

 John-Salmond:
 “The body of
principles
recognised and
applied by the state
in the administration
of justice”.
SEVERAL MEANINGS OF LAW 13

1. rule of law
2. legislation
3. legal system of a nation; or
4. legal process( procedural
aspect such as adjudication or
law making process)
➢ Why do people obey the ‘Law’?
⌖ People obey law out of fear of punishment.
⌖ Felt bound to obey because of sanctions
⌖ To arrange their affairs according to the law.

➢ How do the ‘Law’ develops in a society?

⌖ Develops with the society's need and the influence
of history.
⌖ Influenced by religion, logic, sociology, philosophy,
economics, trade, politics, industry and inventions.
FUNCTIONS OF LAW
An instrument to foster social order

Resolves Facilitates Constitutes, Communicates,

conflict co- regulates & regulates &
operative distributes reinforces social
action power values/behaviour
FUNCTIONS OF LAW

 Resolves conflict
Provides a rationalized &
conclusive settlement to disputes
Provides a formalized mechanism
for settling disputes by using the
most typical of all legal institutions
that is the court
Other mechanism for resolving conflicts
includes e.g. arbitration, mediation,
conciliation also recognized by law
Maintains public order by regulating
human's behaviour through
suppression of deviant behaviour.
 FUNCTIONS OF LAW

 Facilitates co-operative action

Recognizes certain basic underlying interests and
provide a framework of rules for giving effect to
them. Provides systems/procedures for transfer of
ownership in land, inheritance of property &
formation of groups for peaceful purposes
Deals with the distribution of wealth &
entitlement in society, that is, allocating
things which people wants & values.
Makes certain forms of wealth possible,
which cannot exists without law e.g
copyright, shares (intangible wealth).
 Constitutes,regulates & distributes power
Power in society is not equally
distributed. Law, hence functions to
distribute power.
Provides for succession to power and
defines who has the right to exercise
what kind of power in society.
Specify who these officials are and what
these powers are.
Prescribes the structures of the authority
through which government is carried out
Specify powers in the relationship
between private citizens & groups e.g.
parent and child, property owners and the
rights of individuals to set up organizations
in society.
 Communicates, regulates & reinforces social
values/behaviour
Law can also be made as well. Hence, also
functions as a mechanism for changing and
improving the human's behaviour.
By changing odd rules or introducing quite
new ones especially through legislation.
Law has always enforced some morality.
Matters formerly left to the individual
conscience has been made the subject
of state control through law.
Law reserved the "status quo“, & at the
same time introduces deliberate change
in our social arrangement.
Law thus, reconciles btw stability &
change.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW

 PUBLIC LAW
 governs the relationship between individuals
and the State.
 May be divided into:
1. Constitutional Law
2. Criminal Law
3. Administrative Law
1. Constitutional Law
 Constitutional law lays down the rights of individuals
in the State. It deals with questions such as
supremacy of Parliament and rights of citizens.
2. Criminal Law
 Criminal law codifies the various offences
committed by individuals against the State. Thus,
criminal law imposes on individuals the obligation
not to commit crimes.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW

 INTERNATIONAL LAW
 Body of law composing of principles & rules of conduct
which states commonly observed in their relations to
each other.
 May be divided into 2 parts:
1. Public International Law
 The law about the mutual relationship between the states. It is also
concerned with international organizations, e.g. United Nations and its
associated bodies. International law consists of the general principles
of law, customs, conventions or treaties recognized by civilized nations.
2. Private international law (i.e. conflict of
laws).
 Itconcerns the difficulties, which arise
when legal disputes occur between
parties from different nations. In order to
determine which is the correct system to
apply, the court will consult the rules of
private international law.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW
 PRIVATE LAW
 Concerned with matters that affect the rights and duties of
individuals amongst themselves.
 Under private law, legal action is normally undertaken at the
instance or initiative of the individual.
1. The law of contract encompasses all
sorts of commercial and non-
commercial transaction. It deals with
esp. commercial promises. It is
designed to enforce promises, by
ordering people to carry them out or to
compensate the other party if they
failed to do so.
2. Tort is based on an obligation imposed
by law. A tort is a civil wrong. It is the
breach of a general duty, which is
imposed by the law. Any person whose
legal right is infringed may sue the
wrongdoer. E.g. of 'tortious act':
assault, battery, interfering goods,
defamation (libel and slander).
3. A trust is an equitable obligation
binding a person (a trustee) to deal
with property over, which he has
control (trust property) for the benefit
of person (beneficiary).
 Other classification includes:
 Civil vs Criminal law
 God-made Law vs Man-made law
 Substantive vs Procedural Law
 All the above classification applies to the various classification
stated before.
Islamic scholars
 Muslim jurist Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i (767–820), who codified the
basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence in his book ar-Risālah.
 The book details the four roots of law (Qur'an, Sunnah, ijma, and qiyas) while
specifying that the primary Islamic texts (the Qur'an and the hadith) must be
understood according to objective rules of interpretation derived from
scientific study of the Arabic language.
 According to scholar Noah Feldman, under many Muslim caliphate states
and later states ruled by sultans, the Ulama were regarded as the guardians
of Islamic law and prevented the Caliph from dictating legal results, with the
ruler and ulama forming a sort of "separation of powers" in government.

 Laws were decided based on the Ijma (consensus) of the Ummah

(community), which was most often represented by the legal scholars.
 Malaysian Perspective
 In a society with certain structure it is definite that different individuals will have
different opinions which have to be coordinated by law. Laws is a type of glue
stick that holds society together, so that they can live peacefully.
 For example, law of criminal helps to safeguard the personal property and lives.
Law of contract helps to ensure people keep on their promises

 Law protects basic individual rights and freedom such as liberty, equality and
freedom of speech. It prevents individuals in powerful position from taking an
unfair advantage of other people.

 Law ensures a safe and peaceful society, in which individual rights are
preserved. Certain governments have cruel laws, where police and armies arrests
and punishes people without a trial in the court.
MALAYSIA LEGAL HISTORY
▪ Malaysia legal history has been determined for six hundred years ago

▪ Three major periods that responsible for current Malaysia system are Sultan Melaka, the
spread of Islam and British colonial rule.

▪ The formal legal text of traditional Melaka consisted of the Undang-Undang Melaka
(Laws of Melaka)and the Undang-Undang Laut Melaka

 Adat Temenggung be the the source of law

 Adat Temenggung’s punishment is more heavy than Adat Pepatih

 If there is conflict between the customary law and Islamic law, the Islamic law will be
applied/used

 When Melaka fell into the hands of Portuguese and Dutch, the local people still
practice the Islamic law and Malay custom