Unwritten laws are laws which are not contained in any statutes and can be found in case decisions.

This is known as the common law or case law. In situations where there is no law governing a particular circumstance, Malaysian case law may apply. If there is no Malaysian case law, English case law can be applied. There are instances where Australian, Indian, and Singaporean cases are used as persuasive authorities.

Unwritten laws are laws that are not enacted and not found inany constitution. It comprises of English law (Common Law andEquity), judicial decisions and customs.Common Law is a major part of many States, especiallyCommonwealth countries. It is mainly made up of non statutory laws, which are the precedents derived from judgments given on real cases by judges.Law of Equity resolves disputes between persons by referring toprinciples of fairness, equality and justness. In these cases,nothing was done against the law by the parties to dispute, buttheir rights are in conflict. Thus, it is different from law; both theStatutory Law enacted by Parliament and State Legislatives andCommon Law which consists of precedents and opinions givenon real cases by judges. n the case Commonwealth of Australia v. Midford (Malaysia) Sdn.Bhd., it was held that the doctrine ofsovereign or crown immunity whichwas developed in English CommonLaw after 1956 should apply inMalaysia. It was said that anydevelopments in English Common Lawafter 1956 should apply in Malaysia

In the case Smith Kline & French Laboratories Ltd. v. Salim (Malaysia) Sdn.Bhd., It was held that the courts have the authority to put aside anyCommon Law or Law of Equity which cannot be applied inMalaysia

Section 3(1)(a) Civil Law Act 1956 states that courts in Peninsular Malaysia should apply Common Law and the Law of Equity as administered in England on 7th April1956. Section 3(1)(b) and Section 3(1)(c) of Civil Law Act 1956 states that courts in Sabah and Sarawak should apply common law and law of equity together with the statutes of general application as administered in England on 1st December 1951 and 12thDecember 1949 accordingly.

17 But it is not stated that the Common Law andLaw of Equity in Malaysia should remainunmodified and follow the same law asadministered in England.Common law and law of equity in Malaysiashould be developed and amended according tothe local needs. In addition, these two lawsshould also take into account of changes in theselaws in England.However, Malaysian government can set theirown scope for the amended or repealed CommonLaw and Law of Equity in Malaysia.