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 10, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A taxi driver and his girlfriend were sentenced to...
A taxi driver and his girlfriend were sentenced to death by a Malaysian High Court after they were convicted of trafficking in 26
- APRIL 10, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A policeman who served as a bodyguard to Malaysia's...
A policeman who served as a bodyguard to Malaysia's king was sentenced to death for what prosecutors called the jealousy-fuelled murder of a teenage pop singer
- MARCH 12, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A Malaysian court charged an Australian woman with...
A Malaysian court charged an Australian woman with carrying heroin in transit under a law carrying a maximum sentence of five years in jail rather than the death sentence for traffickers
- MARCH 1, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
An Australian woman appeared in court in Malaysia on...
An Australian woman appeared in court in Malaysia on charges of trying to smuggle 3kg of heroin hidden in her corset onto a flight to Sydney
- FEBRUARY 20, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A debt collector escaped the gallows when the Court...
A debt collector escaped the gallows when the Court of Appeal in Kuala Lumpur set aside the death sentence imposed on him by the High Court for heroin trafficking and amended the charge to one of possession
- FEBRUARY 5, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Two factory workers convicted of trafficking in cannabis...
Two factory workers convicted of trafficking in cannabis escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal acquitted one of them and reduced the charge against the other
- JANUARY 25, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A 49-year-old man convicted of drug trafficking was...
A 49-year-old man convicted of drug trafficking was hanged at the Kajang Prison
- JANUARY 18, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A quarry worker was sentenced to death by the High...
A quarry worker was sentenced to death by the High Court in Ipoh, Malaysia, for the murder of a Bangladeshi petrol pump attendant
- JANUARY 17, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A 33-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to death by...
A 33-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to death by the High Court in Penang for trafficking in 801
- JANUARY 16, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Federal Narcotics Department deputy director (Intelligence/Operations)...
Federal Narcotics Department deputy director (Intelligence/Operations) Senior Assistant I Mohd Najib Abd Aziz said 20,938 pushers were nabbed in 2001 under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, as compared to 15,920 in 2000
- JANUARY 13, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Possession of arms is an offence punishable by death
Possession of arms is an offence punishable by death
- JANUARY 10, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 on possessing...
Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 on possessing and distributing drugs carries a mandatory death sentence