THEMALAYSIANJUDICIARY

StatusoftheCourt
TheFederalCourtofMalaysiaisthehighestjudicialauthorityandthefinalcourtofappealin
Malaysia.Thecountry,althoughfederallyconstituted,hasasinglestructuredjudicialsystem
consistingoftwopartsthesuperiorcourtsandthesubordinatecourts.Thesubordinatecourtsare
theMagistrateCourtsandtheSessionsCourtswhilstthesuperiorcourtsarethetwoHighCourtsof
coordinatejurisdictionandstatus,oneforPeninsularMalaysiaandtheotherfortheStatesofSabah
andSarawak,theCourtofAppealandtheFederalCourt.TheFederalCourt,earlierknownasthe
SupremeCourtandrenamedtheFederalCourtvideActA885effectivefromJune24,1994,stands
attheapexofthispyramid.
BeforeJanuary1,1985,theFederalCourtwasthehighestcourtinthecountrybutitsdecisionswere
furtherappealabletothePrivyCouncilinLondon.HoweveronJanuary1,1978,PrivyCouncil
appealsincriminalandconstitutionalmatterswereabolishedandonJanuary1,1985,allother
appealsi.e.civilappealsexceptthosefiledbeforethatdatewereabolished.
ThesettingupoftheCourtofAppealonJune24,1994aftertheFederalConstitutionwasamended
videActA885provideslitigantsonemoreopportunitytoappeal.Alternativelyitcanbesaidthatthe
rightofappealtothePrivyCouncilisrestored,albeitintheformoftheFederalCourt.
TheSpecialCourtwasestablishedonMarch30,1993videActA848,nowprovidedforinArticle182
oftheFederalConstitution.AlloffencescommittedbytheRulers(theRulersbeingthemonarchical
headsofthecomponentstatesoftheFederationofMalaysia)includingHisMajestyTheYangdi
PertuanAgongshallbeheardbytheSpecialCourt.TheSpecialCourtshallalsohearallcivilcases
byoragainstthem.ThisCourtshallbechairedbytheChiefJusticeoftheFederalCourtandheshall
beassistedbyfourothermembers,namelythetwoChiefJudgesoftherespectiveHighCourtsand
twootherpersonsappointedbytheConferenceofRulerswhoholdorhaveheldofficeasajudge.

ConstitutionofandAppointmenttotheCourt
TheFederalCourtconsistsofapresidentstyledastheChiefJustice(formerlycalledtheLord
President),thePresidentoftheCourtofAppeal,thetwoChiefJudgesoftheHighCourtsinMalaya
andSabahandSarawak(formerlycalledChiefJustices)andpresentlyfourFederalCourtjudges.
Therearepresently8CourtofAppealJudgesexcludingthePresidentoftheCourtofAppeal.There
are48Judges(includingJudicialCommissioners)fortheHighCourtinMalayaandafurther7
Judges(includingJudicialCommissioners)fortheHighCourtinSabahandSarawak.Atthe
SubordinateCourtlevel,thereare60SessionsCourtJudgesofwhich52areinPeninsularMalaysia

and4eachinSabahandSarawak.AttheMagistrateCourtlevel,151postshavebeenapproved
(122postsinPeninsularMalaysia,10postsinSabah,1postinLabuanand18postsinSarawak)of
which138postshavebeenfilledandpresentlythereare118magistratesinPeninsularMalaysia,7
magistratesinSabah,1magistrateinLabuanand12magistratesinSarawak.
TheChiefJusticeistheheadoftheMalaysianJudiciary.Hisappointment,likethoseofthePresident
ofCourtofAppeal,thetwoChiefJudges,judgesoftheFederalCourt,theCourtofAppealandthe
HighCourt,aremadebyHisMajestyTheYangdiPertuanAgongontheadviceofthePrimeMinister
afterconsultingtheConferenceofRulers.
AstotheappointmentofajudgetotheFederalCourt,theCourtofAppealandtheHighCourts,the
FederalConstitutionprovidesthatthePrimeMinisterbeforetenderinghisadviceshallconsultthe
ChiefJustice,thePresidentoftheCourtofAppealandthetwoChiefJudges.Ontheadviceofthe
ChiefJustice,HisMajestyTheYangdiPertuanAgongmayalsoappointapersonwhohasheldhigh
judicialofficeinMalaysiatobeanadditionaljudgeoftheFederalCourt.TheChiefJusticemayalso,
iftheinterestsofjusticesorequire,nominateaCourtofAppealJudgetositasaJudgeofthe
FederalCourt.AlljudgesoftheSuperiorCourtsretireattheageof65.
AdministrationoftheCourt
ForthesmoothadministrationoftheJudiciary,theChiefRegistrar'sOfficewasestablishedwhichis
headedbytheChiefRegistrartohandlebothjudicialandadministrativematters.TheChiefRegistrar
isassistedbytheRegistraroftheCourtofAppeal,theRegistraroftheHighCourtinMalayaandthe
RegistraroftheHighCourtinSabahandSarawak.BelowthemareanumberofDeputyRegistrars,
SeniorAssistantRegistrars,Administrators,Librarian,InformationSystemsOfficerandsupportstaff.
InaugurationoftheCourt
ThebirthoftheSupremeCourt(asitwasknownthen,nowcalledFederalCourt)onJanuary1,1985
wascommemoratedwithaceremonyheldinitsCourtroomNo.1onJanuary7,1985.Theceremony
wasalsotobidfarewelltotheendingofanolderathatofPrivyCounciljurisdiction.Presentatthe
ceremonialsittingtoinauguratetheSupremeCourtwerethetenSupremeCourtjudges,Attorney
GeneralofMalaysia,SolicitorGeneral,ChairmanoftheBarCouncilandmembersofthelegal
profession.SpeecheswelcomingthesettingupoftheCourtweremadebytheLordPresident(ashe
wasknownthen,nowcalledtheChiefJustice)theRightHonourableTunDato'HajiMohamedSalleh
binAbas,AttorneyGeneralTanSriAbuTalibbinOthmanandMr.RonaldKhoo,ChairmanoftheBar
Council.ThefirstsittingoftheSupremeCourtwhichwaspresidedbytheLordPresidentwasalso
heldonthesamedayatthesamevenueaftertheclosingoftheceremony.
HistoryoftheCourt
Before1957thename"SupremeCourt"wasusedtorefertothehighestcourtforMalaysianext

belowthePrivyCouncil.WiththeabolitionofappealtothePrivyCouncilfromJanuary1,1985,the
SupremeCourtwasfinallydesignatedthehighestcourtinMalaysia.
However,materialdistinctionbetweentheconstitutionoftheformer"SupremeCourt"andthatofthe
presentshouldbenoted.TheSupremeCourtwasrenamedtheFederalCourtofMalaysiaeffective
fromJune24,1994,andisnowthefinalcourtofappealforMalaysia.
OperationoftheCourt
NormallycasesbeforetheFederalCourtofMalaysiaareheardanddisposedofbyafullCourt
comprisingofthreejudges.However,incertainspecialcases,forexampleonewhichinvolves
interpretationoftheConstitutionoraprincipleoflawofmajorpublicimportance,theChiefJustice
mayconveneabiggerpaneloffiveorevensevenjudgestodealwiththematter.InfacttheFederal
CourtsatasasevenmenBenchforthefirsttimeonFebruary5,1996todecideonthelaw
governingthestandardofproofrequiredoftheprosecutionincriminalcases.
IntheabsenceoftheChiefJustice,thepowersshallbehadandmaybeexercisedandtheduties
shallbeperformed:
(a)bythePresidentoftheCourtofAppealor
(b)wherethePresidentisabsent,bytheChiefJudgeoftheHighCourtinMalayaor
(c)wherethePresidentandtheChiefJudgeoftheHighCourtinMalayaareabsent,bytheChief
JudgeofthHighCourtinSabahandSarawakor
(d)wherethePresident,theChiefJudgeoftheHighCourtinMalayaandtheHighCourtinSabah
andSarawakareabsent,bytheJudgeoftheFederalCourtnominatedforthatpurposebytheYang
diPertuanAgong.
AsinglejudgeoftheCourtcanalsohearanddeterminecertainmatters.Inaproceedingpending
beforetheCourt,thejudgemaymakeincidentaldirectionsorgrantinterimorderspendingthe
hearingoftheproceeding.Theorderofasinglejudgemay,however,bedischargedorvariedbythe
fullCourt.
IftheCourtisnotunanimousinitsopinion,theviewofthemajorityofthejudgescomposingthe
Courtprevails.
HearingofCases
CasescometotheFederalCourtforfinaldeterminationfromtheCourtofAppeal.
RulesoftheFederalCourt,whicharemadebytheRulesCommittee,regulateandprescribethe

procedurewhichlegalpractitionersmustcomplywithinpreparingacaseforhearing,includingthe
preparationofanAppealRecord.TheAppealRecord,preparedbytheappellant'ssolicitors,contains
allmaterialwhichisnecessaryfortheCourttodeterminetheissuesraisedbytheappeal.
Sevendaysbeforethehearing,theappellant'ssolicitorhastosubmitanoutlinesubmissiontothe
FederalCourtRegistry.Duringthehearing,counselrepresentingthepartiespresenttheirarguments
orallytotheCourt.Inaddition,writtensubmissionsinskeletalformsmaysometimesbesubmitted.
Writtenreasonsarealwaysgiveninmostcases.Copiesofthewrittenreasonscommonlyreferredto
asgroundsofjudgmentsaredistributedbytheFederalCourtRegistrytoalljudges,theFederal
CourtLibraryforindexingandrecordingpurposes,lawschoolsandlawpublishers.Thedecisionsof
theFederalCourtarebindingonallothercourts(excludingSyariahCourts)throughoutMalaysia.
TheprincipalseatoftheFederalCourtisinKualaLumpur.Itsprincipalregistryisalsolocatedhere.
AlthoughitsitsregularlyinKualaLumpur,theFederalCourtalsotravelsoncircuittothemajorstate
capitalsofPenang,Ipoh,KotaBharu,JohorBahru,AlorSetar,Kuantan,Malacca,KuchingandKota
Kinabalu.
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