Chapter 1 & 2

Introduction to Law
 Definition of Law
(a) Oxford Dictionaries: the system of rules which
a particular country or community recognizes
as regulating the actions of its members and
which it may enforce by the imposition of
penalties.
(b) Black’s Law Dictionary: a system of principles
and rules of human conduct; it includes the
decisions of courts as well as acts of the
legislature.
(c) John Austin - A body of rules fixed and
enforced by a sovereign political authority.
 Definition of Ethics
(a) Oxford Dictionaries: moral principles that govern a person’s
behaviour.
(b) Black’s Law Dictionary: The foremost concepts and principles of
proper human conduct such as treating each human equally,
acknowledging human and natural rights, showing health and
safety concerns, caring for natural environment.
(c) Socrates: a practical science that deals with the morality of
human actions, a science of human acts that serves as reference
to what is right or what is wrong.
(d) Examples:
(i) Respect for the individual (we deserved to work in an
environment where we are treated with respect and dignity)
(ii) Create a culture of open and honest communication between
the employees
(iii) Caring (always willing to help those in need)
 Law vs Ethics (Distinguish)
a) Laws: written regulations that have gone through a
system of government process and voted upon by
member of parliament.
Ethics: rules of conduct that shows how our society
expects us to behave and are the guiding principles
behind the creation of laws.
b) Law: always specifically sets the types of punishment
that should occur if it is broken.
Ethics: normally do not have any associated
punishments when it was broken.
c) Law: normally in written form
Ethics: not necessary in written form
 Sources of Law
1. Federal Constitution
2. The State Constitution
3. Federal laws made by Parliament
4. State laws made by State Assemblies
5. Subsidiary legislation
6. English law / Common law
7. Judicial Precedent
8. Islamic law
 1. Federal Constitution
➢ Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land
based on Article 4(1) of the Federal Constitution. It
means that any law which is inconsistent with the
Federal Constitution is invalid.
➢ The Malaysian Parliament as a legislative body has
the capacity to amend (modify) or repeal the
provisions in the constitution by way of two third
majority vote of the both houses of Parliament.
(Dewan Negara & Dewan Rakyat).
 2. State Constitution
➢ All the states in Malaysia have its own constitution
which provides for a single legislative assembly in
each state.
➢ The constitutional ruler:
i) Negeri Sembilan: Yang di-Pertuan Besar
ii) Perlis: Raja
iii) Other States: Sultan
iv) Penang, Malacca, Sabah & Sarawak: Yang di-Pertua
Negeri
➢ A Menteri Besar or Chief Minister heads the state
government.
 3. Legislation
➢ Legislation refers to laws made by a person or body which
has the power to make law.
➢ In Malaysia, both Parliament and the State Legislative
Assemblies as well as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong possess
authority to enact laws in their respective areas.
➢ Legislation can be divided into 3 categories:
a) Act/Statute: federal law made by Parliament. E.g:
Contracts Act 1950, Companies Act 1965, etc. It applies
throughout the country.
b) Enactment: state law made by a State Legislative
Assembly. In Sarawak, the state law is known as
Ordinance.
c) Ordinance: a law made by the King (Yang Di-Pertuan
Agong) during a proclamation of emergency when
Parliament is not sitting concurrently.
 4. Subsidiary Legislation
➢Also known as subordinate legislation or
delegated legislation.
➢A state enactment will gives power to the
local authority to enact rules and regulations
such as parking by-laws.
 5. English law / Common law
➢ A natural consequence of British colonial rule was the
spread of English law into those countries ruled by British.
➢ Section 3 and 5 of the Civil Law Act 1956 - English law is
applicable in Malaysia in relation to areas which are not
covered by our legislation and it is adopted so far as they
were suitable to local conditions.
➢ Case: Jamil bin Harun v Yang Kamsiah
➢ If there is any contradiction between English law and
written law of Malaysia, a Malaysian written law shall
prevails.
➢ Common law – refers to law laid down by judges sitting in
the Superior Courts. This system was inherited from
England. It is also known as ’judge made law’.
 6. Judicial Precedent
➢ The doctrine of judicial precedent or stare decisis is
originated from the English legal system.
➢ A precedent is a statement of law made by a judge in
deciding a case. The doctrine states that within the
hierarchy of the courts, a decision made by a higher court
will be binding on the lower courts. It means that when
judges decide a case, they will check whether there is any
similar case which has came previously and if there was a
precedent set by an equal or higher court, then the judge
should follow that precedent. If there is a precedent set in
a lower court, the judge does not have to follow it, but may
consider it.
➢ E.g. the decision of the Federal Court is binding on the
other courts, but the decision of the High Court is only
binding on the lower courts and not on the Court of Appeal
and Federal Court.
 7. Islamic Law
➢ In Malaysia, Islamic law is only applicable to Muslims
and administered in the Syariah courts.
➢ The Syariah court is a state court established by state
law and it has its own hierarchy.
➢ Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution states that
“the civil courts shall have no jurisdiction in respect of
any matter within the jurisdiction of the syariah
courts”.
➢ Cases in Syariah courts: divorce cases, right of
children custody, failure to fast during the month of
Ramadhan, close proximity with a person of the
opposite sex who is not one's spouse or family
member (khalwat), etc.
 Classifications of Law
1. Public Law – a category of law which governs the relationship
between the citizen and the government.
➢ Sub-categories of public law:
i) Constitutional law: deals with the structure of government and
the rights of individual under that government.
ii) Administrative law: regulates the duties and exercise of powers
by administrative authorities such as Federal Agricultural
Marketing Authority (FAMA), Malaysian Agricultural
Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Farmers'
Organization Authority of Malaysia (LPP) and so on against the
individual.
iii) Criminal law: the law that determines what conduct is
punishable by the State (government). Example of criminal
offences are murder, rape, theft, deliberate burning of property
(arson) and so on.
 2. Private Law
➢ Sometimes referred as ‘civil law’ and it regulates the relationship
between citizens.
➢ Under this category of law, legal action is normally undertaken at the
instance or initiative of the individual. The party commencing an action
is referred to as ‘the plaintiff’ and the other party being sued is ‘the
defendant’.
➢ It can be divided into sub-categories of law:
i) Contract law: contracts are agreements made between people or
bodies who have legal capacity to do so. Any disputes arising from
such contract will be decided by courts based on contract law.
ii) Tort law: civil wrongs that are committed when one person causes
injury, damage or loss to another person in circumstances that the
courts consider should render him liable to pay damages to
compensate for the harm which he has caused. E.g: defamation,
trespass, negligence, etc.
iii) Family law
iv) Company law
v) Property law
 Case: Donoghue v Stevenson
• This is an example of case for law of tort.
• In this case, Mrs Donoghue drank a bottle
of ginger beer in a cafe in UK. A snail was in
the bottle. She fell ill, and she sued the ginger
beer manufacturer, Mr Stevenson. The House
of Lords held that the manufacturer owed a
duty of care to her, which was breached,
because it was reasonably foreseeable that
failure to ensure the product's safety would
lead to harm of consumers.
• As a result, Mrs Donoghue managed to claim
₤500 as damages (compensation) in this case.
• Thank You