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
- APRIL 21, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING
Chong Chee Kong, a 46-year-old man who escaped from remand in Johor in 1989, was sentenced to death by the Malaysian High Court for drug trafficking. Kong, who had been on the run, was caught by police in 2001.
- APRIL 20, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR CHINESE NATIONAL
the Malysian Court of Appeal reaffirmed a 2002 High Court ruling sentencing Chan King Yu, a Chinese national, to death for drug trafficking. Judge Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, in giving the court's unanimous decision, said the appellate court was satisfied that t
- APRIL 20, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Malaysia voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
Malaysia voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
- MARCH 26, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. BUSINESSMAN TO BE HANGED FOR MURDER AFTER PROSECUTORS' APPEAL
Kenneth Lee Fook Mun, a Malaysian businessman, was sentenced to death after prosecutors won an appeal for harsher punishment over the shooting death of an accountant.
- MARCH 24, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. HANGMEN IN LINE FOR A 75% PAY RISE
it was reported that Malaysia’s hangmen and floggers had won pay rises. For every hanging, executioners would be paid the equivalent of 100 EU (490 Malaysian Ringgits), up from 60 EU.
MARCH 21, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA. COURT AFFIRMS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING BANGLADESHI
the Federal Court of Malaysia in Bernama upheld the conviction and death sentence imposed on Francis Antonysamy for murdering a Bangladeshi man in oil palm estate in Temerloh. Francis, 33, had been sentenced to death by the Temerloh High Court for murderi
- MARCH 7, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. DECISION ON HANAFI'S APPEAL AGAINST DEATH SENTENCE DEFERRED
the Malaysian Court of Appeal postponed indefinitely the decision on the appeal by Hanafi Mat Hassan against his death sentence for killing computer engineer Noor Suzaily Mukhtar.
- MARCH 1, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. RESTAURANT OWNER ESCAPES GALLOWS
restaurant owner Cheah Yoon Lim escaped the gallows when the Malaysian Court of Appeals amended a drug charge from trafficking to possessing 70.2 grammes of the prohibited substance.
- FEBRUARY 25, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A. Sridhar, a soldier, was sentenced to death
A. Sridhar, a soldier, was sentenced to death
- FEBRUARY 23, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Ahmad Najib Aris, a 29 year old Malaysian man, was sentenced to death
Ahmad Najib Aris, a 29 year old Malaysian man, was sentenced to death
- FEBRUARY 15, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International urged Malaysia to halt the planned deportation
Amnesty International urged Malaysia to halt the planned deportation
- FEBRUARY 3, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Malaysia revealed it had executed 358 people by hanging in the past 24 years.
Malaysia revealed it had executed 358 people by hanging in the past 24 years.