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
- NOVEMBER 4, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On the death penalty for raping young children, veteran...
On the death penalty for raping young children, veteran social activist and Nation Crime Prevention Foundation chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the punishment is only one part of the solution and that the more important aspect lies in education
- OCTOBER 24, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
The 539 people sentenced to death by hanging from 1957...
The 539 people sentenced to death by hanging from 1957 until now, including 313 Muslims, were accorded their religious rights before and after the sentence was carried out, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Zainal Abidin Zin said
- OCTOBER 21, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Mohamed Amin Mohd Razali, the al-Ma'unah leader, who...
Mohamed Amin Mohd Razali, the al-Ma'unah leader, who was sentenced to death for trying to wage war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, appealed for the sentence to be reduced to life imprisonment on the basis that "the case was the first of its kind in the
- OCTOBER 7, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
The trial of a 13-year - old boy charged with the murder...
The trial of a 13-year - old boy charged with the murder of his tuition teacher's 11-year-old daughter commenced with a High Court direction that only those concerned with the case could be in court
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A 28-year-old electrical and telecommunications subcontractor...
A 28-year-old electrical and telecommunications subcontractor was sentenced to death by the High Court for trafficking in 315
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
More than 1,000 of the 13,060 drug offenders arrested...
More than 1,000 of the 13,060 drug offenders arrested during the first six months of 2002 were traffickers and face the death penalty upon conviction, according to statistics from the National Drug Agency
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A painter was sentenced to death by the High Court...
A painter was sentenced to death by the High Court in Ipoh, Malysia for trafficking in 420gm of ganja
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Sharif Kadir, a 56-year-old jobless man sentenced to...
Sharif Kadir, a 56-year-old jobless man sentenced to death for drug trafficking, escaped the gallows when the Court of Appeal allowed his appeal
- AUGUST 14, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Chan Chor Shun, 45, a businessman, was convicted and...
Chan Chor Shun, 45, a businessman, was convicted and sentenced to death by the Kuantan High Court on June 4, 1996, but today the Court of Appeal set aside the conviction and sentence against him
- AUGUST 11, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Businessman Alex Wong Teck Choy was sentenced to death...
Businessman Alex Wong Teck Choy was sentenced to death early in August for the murder of 27-year-old car spare parts assistant Seow Nan Keong
- AUGUST 6, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerians Johnson Oshodi, Tunde Apatira, Oladotun Lukmanu...
Nigerians Johnson Oshodi, Tunde Apatira, Oladotun Lukmanu Umaru and a Chinese national from Hong Kong, Chu Tak Fai, appealed to the Malaysia Federal Court for a revision of their death sentences following a decision by the Court of Appeal acquitting mecha
- AUGUST 5, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
An Indonesian carpenter escaped the gallows after the...
An Indonesian carpenter escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal set aside the ganja trafficking conviction