Malaysia
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
- CONSTITUTION
- August 31, 1957, amended several times, last in 2007
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on English common law; legislative acts reviewed by the Supreme Court; Islamic law applies to Muslims in family and religious matters
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, Senate (Dewan Negara) and House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- civil courts include: Federal Court, Court of Appeal, and High Courts; Sharia courts include Sharia Court of Appeal, High Sharia Court, and subordinate Sharia tribunals. Sharia court decisions cannot be appealed in civil courts
RELIGIONS
60% Muslims, 19% Buddhists, 9% Christians, 6% Hindus, other
From the country
MAY 2, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: EX-POLICEMEN'S DEATH SENTENCES COMMUTED TO 40 YEARS IN JAIL FOR KILLING MECHANIC
Two former policemen escaped the gallows after the Federal Court’s three-member panel on April 30, 2024 commuted the death sentences imposed on them to 40 years in jail for the murder of an Indonesian mechanic 18 years ago.
APRIL 18, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: 54 PRISONERS ESCAPE DEATH SENTENCE, SENTENCES COMMUTED TO 30-38 YEARS JAIL
A total of 54 prisoners escaped death by hanging in Malaysia, after the Federal Court, sitting at the High Court in Kota Baru, Malaysia, on April 18, 2024, commuted their sentences to imprisonment between 30 and 38 years.
- MARCH 28, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: TWO FILIPINAS ESCAPE DEATH SENTENCE AFTER APEX COURT GRANTS 30 YEARS’ JAIL FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Two Filipinas, who had been on death row in Malaysia since 2013, were granted a reprieve when the Federal Court on March 26, 2024 granted them a revision of their sentence, bringing it down to 30 years’ jail.
MARCH 20, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: MAN GETS DEATH FOR 200KG OF DRUGS IN TAWAU
A mechanic was sentenced to death by the Tawau High Court on March 8, 2024 for trafficking nearly 200kg of syabu.
- MARCH 19, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE OF CAMBODIAN MAN COMMUTED TO 60 YEARS IN PRISON FOR CAUSING DEATH
A Cambodian man, who was convicted of murdering two boys and two women, breathed a sigh of relief on March 12, 2024 after his death sentence was commuted to 60 years imprisonment by the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya.
- MARCH 14, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: TWO MEN GET DEATH SENTENCES COMMUTED
Two death sentences on March 13, 2024 were commuted in separate rulings at the Federal Court and Court of Appeal, in Putrajaya
FEBRUARY 6, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: 5 ON DEATH ROW IN SABAH SPARED THE GALLOWS
Five prisoners on death row in Sabah on February 5, 2024 saw their capital punishment substituted to imprisonment by the Federal Court.
- JANUARY 11, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APEX COURT AFFIRMS DEATH SENTENCE OF EX-GUARD WHO MURDERED COLLEAGUES
The Putrajaya Federal Court on January 4, 2024 unanimously affirmed the death sentence imposed on a former security guard for murdering his two colleagues, seven years ago.
- DECEMBER 13, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED, WORKER GETS 33 YEARS FOR KILLING FOREMAN
A Bangladeshi man escaped the gallows after the Federal Court in Putrajaya on December 23, 2023 commuted his death sentence to 33 years in jail for murdering his fellow countryman.
- DECEMBER 7, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES OF 9 TRAFFICKERS TO 30 YEARS’ JAIL
A 76-year-old former security guard on death row was among nine men who saw their death sentences commuted to 30 years’ jail under the temporary jurisdiction accorded to the Federal Court by law, FMT reported on December 6, 2023.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APPEAL COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO 30 YEARS JAIL FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS
A former mechanic and a former cosmetician, convicted of two counts of trafficking drugs, had their death sentences commuted to 30 years in prison on November 22, 2023 by the Court of Appeal.
NOVEMBER 19, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: 95.8% DEATH ROW AND LIFE PRISON INMATES APPLIED FOR SENTENCE REVIEW AFTER MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY REMOVED
978 out of 1,020 death row and natural life imprisonment inmates have applied to have their sentence reviewed since Nov 9, said the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said on November 14, 2